Queen Steel Question

Whitedog

Whitedog

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Dec 30, 2005
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I have a two bladed Queen City Copperhead that has 1095 steel blades. Nice fit and finish. The edge was typical for Queen from what I have read.
I am wondering if the steel is 1095 or D2 since it has been a real PIA to get a good edge which I have managed to do finally. However it reminds me of some D2 I have had experience with. It seems to work best with a rather coarse edge. If I refine the edge, going to a highter grit stone, it seems to loose some of its cutting ability. I am using DMT stones, 352 to 600 grit. Anyone have any thoughts on this or similiar experience.
 
Queens with D2 should have PH-D2 on the tang, later ones will have "tool steel" below he etch on the main blade, earlier ones do not.
 
If it's actually marked as a 'Queen City' brand, which is a line made to more 'traditional' standards of old, I'm pretty certain it's not D2. All of the Queen City knives I've seen or heard of, are 1095 carbon steel. I don't remember for sure, but there might(?) be some Queen City 440C blades out there. The D2 is normally only found in the current-generation 'Queen' branded knives, and some other brands (Northwoods, Canal Street) that were made by Queen.

I don't know to what hardness the Queen City 1095 blades are heat-treated. They might be a little harder than other makers' 1095, so that might be contributing to some of the difficulty.
 
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Yup. I concur

From Cumberland Knifeworks
"A new line of knives will debut in the Fall of 2007 bearing the name Queen City Cutlery Classics and have the old QCCC trademark shield. The significant item here will be the use of more exotic handle materials , mainly , Rams horn , Ebony Wood, Camel , Burl, and others not commonly used today. Plus, all knives will be constructed of 1095 High Carbon steel.

These issues will be all serial numbered with certificates of authenticity so collectors will be able to secure thier favorite numbers with each succeeding knife issue.

The QCCC shield was only used between 1928 and 1932 . It is sure to be a big with collectors. The first knives will be coming soon."

vendor link removed by moderator per guidelines
 
The harder blade is very possible. The steel is most definitely carbon steel. So I will just keep working at it and see what happens.
 
I have just done a little more work on the Copperhead. Cleaned my stones good and started with the light strokes and she is coming around now. I guess the steel may have been a little harder than some of the 1095 I have worked with and also the edge was thicker to start with. It is definitely a well built knife and I would by another Queen product in the future. Live and learn.
 
Thick edges on a Q city is the norm.I have bought many and all needed a total reprofile.One trapper spey blade was never touched.Worse than a butter knife.Its not a problem for me,but ive wondered what a person that just needed a good cutting knife would think.I would guess he'd prefer the 1/3 the price China knife next time that shaves right out of the box.
 
Whitedog said:
I have just done a little more work on the Copperhead. Cleaned my stones good and started with the light strokes and she is coming around now. I guess the steel may have been a little harder than some of the 1095 I have worked with and also the edge was thicker to start with. It is definitely a well built knife and I would by another Queen product in the future. Live and learn.
Click to expand...

Thick edge on a Queen-made knife? Who knew? :D

Kidding aside, that thought crossed my mind, too. Sometimes, a 'thick' edge on any steel can make it a bit tougher to establish a good bevel. I have an old Western L48A fixed blade in 1095, which presented similar difficulty when I re-bevelled it. It 'felt' a lot harder/tougher than I would've assumed, for this steel. But the factory bevel on it was quite thick.
 
Seals said:
Thick edges on a Q city is the norm.I have bought many and all needed a total reprofile.One trapper spey blade was never touched.Worse than a butter knife.Its not a problem for me,but ive wondered what a person that just needed a good cutting knife would think.I would guess he'd prefer the 1/3 the price China knife next time that shaves right out of the box.
Click to expand...

I thought I needed to send them to you ;) --Thanks again, btw! :)
 
Thanks for the replys. The ticker edge was the culprit. After some more work this afternoon the Queen Copperhead is a real slicer. Next Queen, if I should get one, I will just reprofile to start with.
 
Whitedog said:
I have just done a little more work on the Copperhead. Cleaned my stones good and started with the light strokes and she is coming around now. I guess the steel may have been a little harder than some of the 1095 I have worked with and also the edge was thicker to start with. It is definitely a well built knife and I would by another Queen product in the future. Live and learn.
Click to expand...

I only have one Queen City. When I was sharpening it, I noticed that, not only were the edge bevels fairly oblique (guessing about 25° per side) but I'm not altogether certain they met in the center. When I shined a light on that factory edge it reflected a lot.

That being said, it did sharpen up and is a great knife.
 
I had the same experience as Frank. Bought a recent QCCC teardrop jack in 1095 that had uneven and obtuse bevels, but got it razor sharp with a little work. Good steel.
 
The Economy line of Queen City are a very hard 1095

I got 4 for under $100
Excellent knives
But the grinds were oblique!!
It took me a long time to rebevel them
Much longer than the Queen D2

Now they are wicked slicers
But it took time.......
 
black mamba said:
I had the same experience as Frank. Bought a recent QCCC teardrop jack in 1095 that had uneven and obtuse bevels, but got it razor sharp with a little work. Good steel.
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My experience too Jeff! Queen 1095 turns out very well and this is a master slicer. I'm always on the look-out for another one of those Teardrops. The Harness Jack I have in Queen 1095 is also impressively keen.
 
Veerrry interesting. Didn't know 1095 could be run that hard. I thought one of the reasons the D2 seemed to get duller with increasing grits was the hard crystals in it pulling out of the edge. I guess it's just me and my lack of patience reprofiling on a crystolon stone. Also I guess I don't know what a good geometry looks and feels like on a short thick blade (experience here is whittler and canoe main blades, thin two blade congress and secondaries are ok).
 
MarkPinTx said:
Veerrry interesting. Didn't know 1095 could be run that hard. I thought one of the reasons the D2 seemed to get duller with increasing grits was the hard crystals in it pulling out of the edge. I guess it's just me and my lack of patience reprofiling on a crystolon stone. Also I guess I don't know what a good geometry looks and feels like on a short thick blade (experience here is whittler and canoe main blades, thin two blade congress and secondaries are ok).
Click to expand...

Regarding D2, I used a DMT hone to initially re-bevel my Country Cousin. After that, over some time, I used wet/dry sandpaper to convex that new bevel. Took it thru 2000 grit and stropping w/Simichrome on leather, which pretty well polished it. It's held up beautifully since then. I haven't noticed any issues with crystals/carbides pulling out of the edge or fracturing away. I'm inclined to believe that reports of the steel not taking a very fine edge are mainly due to it not being taken far enough on the hones, in the first place. It does take a while, so patient persistance is a asset. In fact, this particular knife was my first to really pop hairs with a convex, and it's maintained that sharpness well. It will get there, eventually. And it's worth it. :)
 
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That's a beauty of an edge on that CC! Are they super thick (-1/8) like the canoe and whittler? I'm an amateur metallurgist (m.e. with a fair amount of materials) so I fail to apply Occams razor to bs like the crystals (I'm sure they're there, but not doing anything other than making d2 hard).
 
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