Queen Cutlery

TNRat

TNRat

Joined
Sep 18, 2003
Messages
2,389
I was in the knife shop in Hartselle, AL yesterday, and was going to reward myself with a Queen or Shatz and Morgan folder. They have several of the Mountain Man patterns in, which I love, and was about to take one home.

When I bought my first Queen MM with wood handles I had to look at 3 different knives in order to find one that did not have a lot of play in the blade, and locked up tight.

Yesterday, I looked at 4 different MM styles, around 9 knives in all, and none walked and talked like they should have. One had an obviously rounded shoulder where the lock fits in.

One would not even spring closed, you actually had to push the blade all the way back into the handle.

These were stag handles, cocobolo, and one was the buffalo horn handle wit the mother of pearl inlay for $130. :( :confused:

$130 for a lockback that would not even pop? What gives? Had I seen one knife that had a problem that would have been understandable, but 9?!?!

At this point I am leary of buying anymore Queen products, especially if I cannot look at them first. I love the knives, but expect quality at least nearly every time. Especially when you start talking about a bill for a folder.

BTW, I came home and bought another Swamp Rat. They have not let me down yet with their fixed blades.
 
That's sounds rather discouraging. Are there any other knife shops around where you could check out what they have?

Mike
 
I too am very discouraged about Queen products. Let me list them:

1. Schatt and Morgan File and Wire Mountain Man -- 1/4" chip in bone scale near pin. Sent it back.

2. Second Schatt and Morgan File and Wire Mountain Man -- blade way off center. Sent it back.

3. Queen carved stag bone whittler -- clip blade is at about a 10 degree angle to the side of the handle when open (I have A Cocobolo whittler that's straight) and blue "burn" mark on the tip of the coping blade (hardening likely burned off). Keeping it anyway.

4. Queen carved stag bone Mountain Man -- lots of play in the blade when open. Sent it back.

5. Queen Cocobolo congress -- shield sticks way up on one edge. Keeping it anyway.

6. Second Queen carved stag bone Mountain Man -- several cracks in one of the bone scales -- one longer than 1". All very visible to the naked eye. Will probably send it back.

7. Queen Cattle King -- play in clip blade, spey and sheepsfoot springs weak, and Spey blade opening is pure mush -- you have to drag it all the way open. Will probably send it back.

I have 2 Queen knives that came without a noticable flaw -- a carved stag bone congress, and a Cocobolo whittler. That's 2 out of 9 total.

I may just ask for a refund on the last two. I think I'm done with Queen for a while.

Is no one besides Terry and I seeing this, or are we just lightening rods for bad knives?


:(
 
Ok, two issues.

Cocobolo Premium Trapper - blades are a bit off center but not enough to affect functionality. Basically this is a cosmetic issue and the knife is otherwise quite nice.

Cocobolo Whittler - Pen blade is a bit weak and gritty. It does snap though.

I thought about returning the second one because I consider this somewhat of a serious defect for a whittler. I decided that I could live with it.
 
I love their knife patterns and styles, and loves the steel they use, but do wish their QC was more predictable.

I will continue searching for good quality knives made by them, and guess I will have to settle on finding one good one that locks up tight, walks and talks, and has no appearance flaws out of 10 or 15. If we were talking about a $20 Dozier that would be one thing, but a bill is a different story.

I looked at the AG Russell Mountain Man pattern while in the area, but don't remember any QC problems with that knife. I will have to look better next time.

Someone mentioned they thought the AG Russell MM pattern was made by Schatt and Morgan. It would be something if you never saw an AG with a problem. At least that would show they can do a much better job.
 
I'll roll the opposite...

Q 11 slim trapper, cherry. Nice and clean.
Q 48 whittler, CSB. Not perfect, but very good.
Q 66 muskrat, coco. Excellent, save a slight drag on one blade.
Q 66S muskrat, CSB. Flawless.
Q toothpick, CSB. Flawless.

Go ahead and pass on em, folks. I'm 5 for 5.
 
Where is the knife shop located in Hartselle? I go there fairly often on business and haven't seen it. thanks Larry



Terry Newton said:
I was in the knife shop in Hartselle, AL yesterday, and was going to reward myself with a Queen or Shatz and Morgan folder. They have several of the Mountain Man patterns in, which I love, and was about to take one home.

When I bought my first Queen MM with wood handles I had to look at 3 different knives in order to find one that did not have a lot of play in the blade, and locked up tight.

Yesterday, I looked at 4 different MM styles, around 9 knives in all, and none walked and talked like they should have. One had an obviously rounded shoulder where the lock fits in.

One would not even spring closed, you actually had to push the blade all the way back into the handle.

These were stag handles, cocobolo, and one was the buffalo horn handle wit the mother of pearl inlay for $130. :( :confused:

$130 for a lockback that would not even pop? What gives? Had I seen one knife that had a problem that would have been understandable, but 9?!?!

At this point I am leary of buying anymore Queen products, especially if I cannot look at them first. I love the knives, but expect quality at least nearly every time. Especially when you start talking about a bill for a folder.

BTW, I came home and bought another Swamp Rat. They have not let me down yet with their fixed blades.
Click to expand...
 
The knife shop in Hartselle, AL is called J&P Earnest Cutlery, and is located on Highway 31 on the south side of Hartselle.

It is a plain, cream colored siding type building with a neon sign out front, and is on the west side of the highway. It is very easy to miss.

He stocks a good selection of knives, but is slightly higher than what knives on the web can be found for. He also does not haggle on prices.

What type do you collect? Queen?
 
I am not really a collector , but I do like Queen over Case . Thanks again for the information. Larry





Terry Newton said:
The knife shop in Hartselle, AL is called J&P Earnest Cutlery, and is located on Highway 31 on the south side of Hartselle.

It is a plain, cream colored siding type building with a neon sign out front, and is on the west side of the highway. It is very easy to miss.

He stocks a good selection of knives, but is slightly higher than what knives on the web can be found for. He also does not haggle on prices.

What type do you collect? Queen?
Click to expand...
 
I have boughta number of Queen knives over the past few years, and have always been relatively satisfied. It might be that I buy them at places like cumberland knife works. I know that I had one on order from there, and it was a little late. I called Bill and he told me that he wasn't happy with it and had ordered another one, so it would be a few days.

Maybe they really do have a problem with quality control- I don't know.
If so, the solution is to see the knife before you buy it, or deal with a site where the guy will actually get the knife himself and examine it before he sends it to you. You would be surprised at the number of internet stores that will do this:

Cumberland, as I said.
Vintage knives does it.
New Graham knives does it.
Depending on how busy they are at that particular moment, 1SKS does it.

Some are not set up to do it. AG Russell can't (or just doesn't--I prefer to believe the former).

These guys all have customer service that I only wish that I could find outside the knife community. That can serve as a buffer between the customer and a factory that can produce great knives and lemons in the same run.
 
I asked AGR to look at a Case CV warncliffe copperlock before shipping. The lady who took my order said sure, she'd be packing it herself. I got a great specimin.
 
Well, I got a Queen today to see the quality as I was considering stocking them. Its got to go back. For a knife that says Handcrafted on the box it was a sore dissapointment. So far my Case is the best SJ I have seen for a while. :grumpy: Damn, I was hoping this was going to be cherry too :grumpy:
 
This is why its going back. I can actually flex it a little between my forefinger and thumb. You know I am sick to the hind teeth of shite QC, its not that hard, hmm there is a space there I could put a hummer through, maybe its not up to snuff. Ya figure? :grumpy: Where the hell is pride in your work anymore?

Damaged_end.jpg
 
I no longer buy factory slip joint knives. I would rather pay twice the price and get a custom from John Howser. John makes one of the best slip joints for the money, I have three of his and they are all perfect knives. Buy the way I just picked up the new issue of Knives Illustrated and there is a four page story on John, With John you will get a lot of knife for the money.
 
Well, I expect things like the above with hand-crafted. When people gripe about Quality Control, are you griping about stuff like that? I usually see things about cracks in the handles, lazy blades, etc. The above wouldn't bother me that much. That looks like a Canoe in Forest Edge (right?) that cost 30 bucks?
 
Yesterday I received 2 replacement Queen knives from Bill Horn at Cumberland -- a Cattle King and a Mountain Man -- and both of them are excellent. The Mountain Man is especially nice: no gaps, blade is dead center, no play whatsoever, and no imperfections or cracks in the scales. When they do it right, they really do it right.

Also, in fairness, as to my post #4 above, I did also receive a Schatt File and Wire Mountain Man that was perfect. The dealer hand picked it for me. I also think a couple of the "flaws" I mentioned could be viewed as trivial.

Basically I'm willing to give Queen another chance. At the very least, I can say that when you buy from Cumberland it's a no-risk proposition, since Bill will replace anything you're not satisfied with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top