Queen Cutlery

C

CongressCollector

Joined
Mar 27, 2013
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I purchased the Queen Cutlery amber bone congress. The blades and scales are real nice but it otherwise seems ill constructed/flimsy. Are all of their knives like this?
 
I have a Queen medium stockman in D2. No rub, no wobble, good fit. It is as solid as a couple of stockman's I have from the 60s and 70s.
 
I have two Queens, and one Schatt & Morgan. One has weak pull, and blade wiggle. One has a great strong pull, like a gator, and bad gaps and wiggle. The S&M (made by queen), had gaps big enough to read through, and bad blade wiggle.

I fixed them all. And now really enjoy them. One disappointing thing, is that I cannot fix the weak springs on the one. All three are "higher end" versions. Two are collaborations with custom makers. The unfix-able weak snap is on a stag Pardue gunboat.

They can be hit or miss, but if you know how to fix them your self, they are a better bet. I would not likely buy another without being able to handle it first!
 
CongressCollector said:
I purchased the Queen Cutlery amber bone congress. The blades and scales are real nice but it otherwise seems ill constructed/flimsy. Are all of their knives like this?
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I've purchased a few in the last couple of years, with no issues from any of them. Although problems with Queen knives are far from unheard of. A quick run-down of which I've bought:
- Four different ASCB fixed blades
- Queen City English Jack, 2012 release
- Schatt and Morgan File & Wire English Jack
- Schatt and Morgan Heritage Jack in ebony wood

There is no blade wobble, gaps, or loose parts on any of these. The only flaw I can feel is the liners on the Heritage are a bit proud, as if the wood shrank after assembly.

In short, send it back if you're not happy.
 
I've got a single blade jack from Queen in D2 that came with grinds and edge bevels so poorly done it looks like a 3 year old on a sugar high was responsible. When I called them I got a very rude lady on the phone who told me they'd fix the edge but nothing else. I hung up, tossed it in a drawer and resolved to never give them any business again.
 
I've had great luck with Queen knives, both traditionals and fixed blades. I have a large stockman with D2 steel and grey wood burl handle scales, a canoe with D2 steel and reddish bone looking scales, a copperhead with D2 steel and grey burl wood scales, and a 4190 fixed blade with spalted burl wood scales and D2 steel. All of them had great fit and finish, good snap walk and talk on the slippies, no gaps, no blade wiggle. I've been very happy with my Queens.

I've also had a real good experience with their customer service. I found an older Queen stockman at a flea market, with a loose bolster, lots of blade play, pin on loose bolster was almost pulled through, scale was loose on one side, and scale had a large crack on it. It was definitely an abused knife. I contacted Queen, and was advised to send it in. I sent the knife in and when it came back to me I could not believe it was the same knife. It looked brand new. All the issues were fixed to perfection. I essentially got a new Queen for the 5.00(what I paid at the flea market), and shipping to Queen for repair. They shipped it back to me for free. It only took about a 4 week turn around time. I was very happy with their customer service.

The only complaint I have had about my Queen knives is that they all came with dull blades, and the edge angles were rather obtuse. I had to reprofile and put new edges on each of them. But, once I put good edges on them they were all great, and the D2 that Queen puts out holds an edge very well, and it's tough steel. Overall, I like my Queens a lot.
 
I've had a couple of Queen Sodbusters (Country Cousin). They feel pretty solid, and the D2 holds an edge well (better than the CV or stainless Case Sodbusters I've had). They have a good snap, but they also all have some horizontal play (as do my Case ones). They seemed pretty well made. Granted, I've only ever handled two Queen knives, so my experience with them is very limited.
 
CongressCollector said:
Thanks for the info, guys.

Bigfattyt,
Where does one sgo to start to learn to repair blade wiggle/wobble and gaps?
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Search on here for tutorials. There have been a few over the years. You can also use Google search to search bladeforums.

You have to have a bit of minimum equipment to make it easier. A vice is the tool I use to tighten them up. Put a scrap of leather one either side and squeeze (gently, remove and check frequently to see if you have made the pivot poke out).


Three of these barlows have gotten the squeeze, tap, sand and polish treatment (the GEC un-x-ld has not needed it yet).
IMG_4292.jpg


Check for opening and closing resistance. It is easy to over squeeze. If that happens, you can wiggle the blade a bit to loosen it up, or open and close it a TON. Then, you need an anvil and hammer (I use the little anvil on the vice). Gently tap the now proud pin to peen it a bit. What you are trying to do is expand it a little bit so the blade wiggle does not reappear.

Once the pin is repeened, take some sandpaper and clean the bolsters back up. Once the big scratches are gone, polish on a loaded strop, and good as new.

This has worked on new knives and old. There is always a little bit of risk to doing it, because if you are not careful, you can overtigten it, or crack your scales etc.

I have even done this on my Grandfather's old Western Barlow and it worked like a charm.

If you have a folder with a very light pull, it is possible to remove all the snap from the blades, unless you work them free.


I am no expert! I have only done this on a handfull of knives (about 6 or so).

This method won't work with some styles of construction. It needs to be solid bolsters (which Queen uses). No shell bolsters or Swindon key construction method knives (where the liners are not pinned and peened in place, but fit into tabs on the scales, and are locked into place).

Here is a spine shot as received. (this is the S&M File and wire). After fixing it is one of my favorite folders! So much so, that I bought another one to give to my own father, because he liked mine so much.

IMG_4199.jpg
 
I love Queen,from their old winter bottom up to the new Amber staged bone with the D2 of today.
 
I have a few higher end models made by Queen. While the materials and fit and finish are top notch, the blades were blunt. I don't mean that they weren't shaving sharp from the box and needed a bit of sharpening (I'm fine with that), they were butter knife dull and had to be sent to a local knifemaker to grind proper edges on them. I live thousands of miles away from the US so sending them back was not an option. A real pity, because they are beautiful knives.

I decided to stop buying Queen products and stick to Case CV knives, which are not as nice looking but work better for me.
 
Got the knife back from Queen today! No wobble! However one of the small blades no longer snaps when it is opened. Not a big deal to me though.
 
CongressCollector said:
Got the knife back from Queen today! No wobble! However one of the small blades no longer snaps when it is opened. Not a big deal to me though.
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If you use the blade a lot (open and close it a ton), the fit should loosen up a bit, and the snap should get better.

Basically when you squeeze the bolsters, you are simply tightening the fit
 
I am thinking of buying my first traditional and having been looking at Queen and Schatt & Morgan. I'm leaning toward the file and wire Mountain Man by S&M (white bone), but am wondering if traditionals are made to the standards we have come to expect from Sebenzas, Spydercos, etc.? I'm talking blade play, blade centering, etc. Guess I'll be prepared to be disappointed and hope for the best.
 
CongressCollector said:
Got the knife back from Queen today! No wobble! However one of the small blades no longer snaps when it is opened. Not a big deal to me though.
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You may find that spritzing it with oil and working it may loosen some grit and it will get some snap back.

Queen makes several product lines.
"Schatt & Morgan" is normally their premium line. 420HC alloy blades. Fit and finish is usually quite excellent.
"Queen City" is their carbon steel line. 1095 carbon steel. Fit and finish is sometimes a bit lower.
"Queen" is their working knife line. D2 steel. Fit and finish normally very good.

I have examples of all. My current favorites are the Queen D2 line. Armed with a diamond stone, you can change the edge bevel and end up with a great working knife that still is fancy enough for polite company.

Come and hang out with us in the Traditional Forum. Frequently there are threads on how to spruce up a Traditional knife.
 
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