Queen D2 Canoe

S

Spydiefan04

Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Messages
819
I have Case, Boker, Buck, Camillus, and Schrade slipjoints but have no experience whatsoever with Queen. Is it a good knife company? I love Canoes, think the Queen D2 Canoe in Cocobolo looks great but want to know the opinion of anyone that has ever carried one. Especially about the D2 steel. I've got many tacticals in high-end stainless steels, but no experience with D2 how does it work for a slipjoint? Thanks for the info.
 
yes, yes & yes.
I have the bonestag version and think it is the bee's knees.
Convex/mousepad sharpened it up and it is one pocket friendly cutting machine. Once sharp that D2 seems to hold an edge really well, just stropped mine since the initial sharpening.
 
Thanks for the info ebbtide, is D2 fairly rust resistant??? Also which do you like better from Queen, Bone or Wood handles, most of mine are Cases with bone :)
 
I have been collecting Case and Queen knives for the past twenty years and I have several from the seventies. A few Case Bulldogs, Sunfish and a few others, but these D2 Queens are my favorite! I always liked the bone handles but for some reason prefer to carry a wood one, preferably cocobolo. If you do get a Queen knife, make sure you get it from Bill at Cumberlandknifeworks.com, he checks each one before he sends them out.
 
I can make D2 stain, but only with difficulty. I've a slim Trapper I've carried about 8 months that I purposely have let stain, and I have only one little gray mark to show for it. It laughs at potatoes and lemons, and the only way to really stain it is vinegar- turns it deep black.

As for cutting, well, how's 125 linear feet of corrugated cardboard bite you? No other slippie I have- even Case 54s with longer blades- has broken 60. Once you get it sharp, it stays there FOREVER. Heck, I convexed mine, and it hasn't seen a stone in almost two months, even though it works every day. Strop, and keep going.
 
Thanks for all of the info, I think I may actually start carrying a Queen D2 while I collect Cases. I've been trying to overcome Spyderfever and get more into traditional stuff anyway. But I'll probably always buy a Spyder or two:)

Also as a side note, has anyone considered the possible bleak future of traditional knife companies (esp. the AMERICAN ones) if us younger guys don't support them. I'm talking about Case, Camillus, and Queen (I may have left out a few). If you notice all of the talk on bladeforums it seems to be geared more to the new "tactical" stuff which although I own many myself, the problem is most of it will never be worth more than what you paid for it, in fact with few exceptions it will often be worth less. However, I have more than a few Case collectibles and limited editions (esp older ones) that are worth many times the purchase price. Not to mention Case being the most collected knife with the biggest collector club it would be easier to sell valuable Cases than other brands. However, if the market continues to shift in that "modern" direction and as older guys die out it is possible that in the next 25-50 years we may lose Case or Queen or both, Camillus will continue due to their diverse line-up. So the next time you look at a Chinese Winchester or Gerber at Wal-mart, rememember the fate of Schrade (I was never their biggest fan, but they made good stuff and I HATED to see them close) leave and go to you nearest hardware store and buy a Case or Queen for God's sake. After thinking this thought I have now resolved to collect Cases and carry Queens (mostly bc of what I hear about D2), any thoughts on this revelation:)
 
Queen Congress in Cocobolo also looks awesome any pros/cons on it vs. Canoe. I'm very familiar w/Canoe style and know it would be thinner in pocket, but I've never had a Congress style (reminds me of a wood handled Buck Creek my Grandad carried for ages) think I may try it instead, any ideas?
 
I bought the Canoe and a Case CV Congress at the same time.
The Case is nice and smooth with decent/OK snap to the blades.
Canoe just rides in the pocket better. And for everyday stuff it's fine.
I use the big blade for clean stuff like food. The little one for dirty stuff like tape and boxes.
 
Spydiefan04 said:
I have Case, Boker, Buck, Camillus, and Schrade slipjoints but have no experience whatsoever with Queen. Is it a good knife company? I love Canoes, think the Queen D2 Canoe in Cocobolo looks great but want to know the opinion of anyone that has ever carried one. Especially about the D2 steel. I've got many tacticals in high-end stainless steels, but no experience with D2 how does it work for a slipjoint? Thanks for the info.
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As has been stated here by S&S and on many a post in this forum, D~2 is extremely popular due to its super edge holding ability and resistence to staining. I am also going to purchase a Queen Canoe in D~2. Just have'nt settled on my scales of choice as of yet.

I have some very old queens and a few new ones, and I can tell you they are great users indeed... Below is a photo of one of each of the old and the new:

An old 1920's-1930's (3) blade stockman in Rogers Bone & a 2003-04 single blade medium size folding hunter in abalone.. :cool:
 

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I beg to differ on D2 being highly stain resistant. My 2 year old Queen is no longer shiny and does not return to its original polish with Flitz. On top of the light grey color there are additional distinct stains that don't come off. Not that I care, since its an jigged bone user. I will say that the D2 is highly rust resitant. The edge was received sharp but obtuse (~45 degree angle) and when it needed resharpening, it also was reprofiled. An obtuse edge is not uncommon from Queen.
 
Sword and Shield said:
Well, brownshoe, how would a 1095 blade have held to that? In my experience, 1095 darkens a lot faster.
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I agree! Any high carbon steel is going to stain much, much, worse than D-2.

However, any and all hi-carbon and D-2 as well will require regular maintenance to keep them up.

As an aside, Bob Dozer's knives all have D-2 with a brush finish instead of a high polish and out of all my knives made from D-2, his require much less oiling.
 
Sure D2 doesn't get as dark as 1095. It's less resistant to staining than 1095, but it ain't no stainless steel. Depending upon use it will stain and pit readily. However, unlike D2, 1095 will shine back up, as well as CarbonV and about 6 other carbon steel knives I have that are old and their steel is unknown. D2 holds its "patina" probably because it's harder than more common carbon steels.
 
The canoe was my first Queen in D2. Came dull. Sharpens nicely and holds a great edge for a long time. Mine is the cherry delrin scales. The Carved stag bone is gorgeous. The knife is very flat and carries well. You won't be disappointed.

Steve
 
sunnyd said:
As an aside, Bob Dozer's knives all have D-2 with a brush finish instead of a high polish and out of all my knives made from D-2, his require much less oiling.
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Prolly because the rougher finish hold the oil better, whereas it just wipes right off a highly polished finish.
 
Well, I've had my canoe for a couple days now... so here's a quick review.

1. Dull as a rock (almost), actually it was sort of sharp, but very obtuse, so I reprofiled the blades and convexed them. Now it cuts very well, not as well as my Spyderco Calypso Jr. (the magic wand for cardboard), but pretty close.
It was not as hard to sharpen as my previous D2 small stockman, diamonds and sandpaper are good!

2. The small blade is just under 1/16" and tapers. Quite thin, this is very much like a scalpel.

3. The large blade is beefy and about 1/8" spine near the pivot, but exactly 2.5" (from the handle, sharpened edge is 2 5/16"), so it's still legal in communist Boston. Even though it is thick, it takes a keen edge and with a bit of convexing and sandpaper polish (to tone down the huge blade etch), looks nice.

4. Springs are just right, not too strong, not too weak.. After I convexed the blades I had to clean all the shavings out and it was better. Both blades talk nicely when closing. They don't have true half-stops but there seems to be a less stresed position in there about halfway.

5. Opening the blades is nice. The main blade protrudes enough so you do not need to use the nail nick if you fingers are dry. The small blade can be opened without the nick if you already have the large open.

6. The Winterbottom delrin looks nicer than I expected. Sort of a brown with dark brown tree-bark. (not as black as in all the pictures). Fit is good everywhere. There is a tiny bit of the main blade spine that you can feel just above the bolster when closed.

7. There is NO blade play in the small blade when opened, and a very tiny bit of side play in the main blade, but I didn't even notice until I checked it just now. Certainly not enough to worry about.

8.. This is a great user knife. I like the stout main blade and the smaller blade for surgery and fine work.

9. After reading this review, and if you get one of these, you must post a review. Not only would it be enjoyable, but it would be interesting to see if yours turned out like mine.

:cool:
 
Hey Klattman, appreciate the review, I am like you and decided to go cheap until I'm totally convinced, so I plan to soon order one in Cherry Jigged Delrin (I don't think Winterbottom is pretty myself) If I really find that I LIKE it, I'll upgrade to either Bone or Cocobolo. Also, if I think from that knife that Queens are as good as I've heard I see a KING RANCH (I usually EDC a Case Amber CV, gotta love big Stockmen) in my future, stay tuned for that Canoe review:)
 
Spydiefan04 said:
Hey Klattman, appreciate the review, I am like you and decided to go cheap until I'm totally convinced, so I plan to soon order one in Cherry Jigged Delrin (I don't think Winterbottom is pretty myself) If I really find that I LIKE it, I'll upgrade to either Bone or Cocobolo. Also, if I think from that knife that Queens are as good as I've heard I see a KING RANCH (I usually EDC a Case Amber CV, gotta love big Stockmen) in my future, stay tuned for that Canoe review:)
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Yeah, I'm very tempted by the larger (4") stocks now too. I have a small JBC and it's just a bit too small. I think a CATTLE KING at 4 1/4" may be a bit big for me :eek: I also wish they made a large congress in Delrin so it would be a bit cheaper... yeah, I want to try them all now!! :o

P.S. As I said in my review, the winterbottom is NOT BLACK like in all the pictures. It's like brown bark. Just so you know... ;)
 
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