Sharpen or send it back?

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

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Feb 2, 2005
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Figure this one out. I bought a Queen 11 barehead trapper at a knife shop, zebrawood handles. Seemed relatively sharp in the store. Queen is not known for their edges, but I bought a Mountain Man with a great edge a couple years ago. Checking the knife out at home, hadn't cut anything with it, seemed barely sharp enough to cut paper. Okay, couple swipes on my strop. Nah, did I round the edge? Couple swipes on my flip stik. Then took a couple swipes on my sharpmaker. Now, I've got a good burr that I need to work on, and stick to one angle. 40 degrees on the sharpmaker, or 20 degrees freehand?

Because of the narrow width of the blade, should I continue to work on this, or send it back to Queen? Scott Gossman has sharpened lots of knives for me, and taught me how to sharpen. D2 is a problem steel for me though. I also might be stopping at a knife shop, that does sharpening. I haven't removed the bevel, and feel a burr coming up, but I don't know if I can get this one hair popping sharp.
 
I'd think twice about having it sharpened at a knife shop, UNLESS they've already done a lot of good work for you, and also if you're confident they could handle the D2. In other words, if you know and trust them implicitly to do it right. If they really mess it up, I don't know if Queen will be willing to fix it, after the fact.

Also, if you send it back to Queen, I'd assume they'd put a 'typical Queen factory edge' on it, so that may be a bit of a gamble. The upside to that though, is it'd presumably be covered under their warranty. If you're not happy when you get it back from them, they might assume some ownership of the problem, and work to make it right for you.

You mentioned Scott Gossman. If you like the work he's done for you, it may be worth sending it his way, or at least get some advice from him.

If you want to work on that burr, I'd think using the Sharpmaker would be preferable to freehand (if you're uncomfortable with D2 sharpening). D2 is tough enough, even on a guided system, so I'd avoid the added variability of angle control in freehand. My own preference is to use a guided system (with diamond hones), when re-bevelling my Queen D2 blades. Once a good bevel is set, it becomes much, much easier to maintain the edge by whichever means you're comfortable with.
 
40º on a Sharpmaker is actually 20º inclusive meaning that each side of the blade is sharpened at 20º just as if you were freehanding it at 20º.

D2 is a bit difficult for some to work with. Keep at it - you'll soon get it right.

Keep at it using the Sharpmaker. Sometimes a Sharpmaker is a bit slower than other systems but a Sharpmaker makes it very easy to maintiain the same angle throughout the sharpening process.

By no means send it back. You've got to learn how to sharpen a knife in order to keep your entire knife collection sharp and ready to use.
 
I had the same problem with a folding hunter from them. The edge was extremely thick and it too me a long time to get it to were it'll take hair off my arm.
It does now and it's a great blade. :thumbup:

I'd keep at it.
I used a Lansky with diamond stones.
 
D-2 is harder to sharpen than 1095 and other carbon steels. I use a diamond Lansky, and a magnifying glass. With patience I get a very durable edge.
 
Ive bought Queen trappers with perfectly rounded non existent edges.I could never understand why such a good old high quality knifemaking company would totally blow such a important step in the process.Case knife edges aren't always so pretty,but they are generally sharp as heck.I have belt grinders and polish my edges on paper wheels or leather,so its no big deal to me,but i do find it odd that they continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
 
Typical Queen edge seems to need complete profiling. Angle on the sides don't match either. Sharpmaker is better for maintaining a decent edge but can be used for profiling with time and patience as long as you take care not to round the tip. Once you get it right however it remains easy to maintain.

Guided system with diamond stones makes profiling a lot easier though.
 
my small stockman came pretty dull as well, i do use paper wheels so i had no problem getting it up to speed. once right though, i love the thing. Queen could be a serious competitor if they wouldnt scare off potential buyers who hear all the horror stories about dull D2 out of the box.

that said, im waiting for the mailman to arrive with another Queen.
 
I would think twice about sending it back to queen, I send them a sharp knife (2010 BF knife) to fix side x side play on the spear blade and they sent it back duller than a walmart plastic spork!!! they are complete amateurs at sharpening a knife and I hope the sale of Queen pushes the quality control up.
 
I wouldn't send it back. I have one Queen I bought new. It needed work - and a diamond hone was what it took to get there w/o power tools. Very nicely made knife, but that was a lot of work.
 
I'm working on it. This store is notorious for their high prices, but I liked the knife, it was my birthday, and the owner/staff are always very helpful. I am just working on my white ceramic stones on the sharpmaker, and can feel an edge coming up. However, I am just worried about the small width of the blade. Don't want it to become a steel toothpick.

I really hope the Daniels family rides herd on the sharpening at Queen.
 
Don't send it back. Although they make great knives, they don't do well with their edges. Get some diamond stones and create the edge you want and enjoy it.
 
If every Queen knife with a dull edge was returned to them then they would get most of their knives back. It has always been a great mystery why an otherwise competent knifemaker cannot supply knives that are fit for purpose out of the box. Knives are primarily meant for cutting things after all.

Having ranted once again I confess that I still like and continue to buy their knives because once sorted they are a joy to own. Good luck trying to get a working edge with white sharpmaker stones - I don't have that kind of patience. Even with diamond stones there can be a lot of effort in getting it right. The good news is that once you do get the edge you want, the sharpmaker is fine for maintenance.
 
Reprofiling using a Sharpmaker is ... um... well...a pain in the sit-upon. I use DMT stones to put a nice acute angle on the blades, then modify with the Sharpmaker for the final edge.
 
I've been working with a diamond rod, getting a somewhat good burr, then finishing off with my strop. Sharp enough to cut paracord, not sharp enough to slice through paper without getting snagged.
 
knarfeng said:
Reprofiling using a Sharpmaker is ... um... well...a pain in the sit-upon. I use DMT stones to put a nice acute angle on the blades, then modify with the Sharpmaker for the final edge.
Click to expand...

You are rebeveling the blade
This is not a sharpening for a Sharpmaker

I only use DMT aligner Jig from E Course to E Fine
It will come to a very fine edge this way
The #11 will take time as it is a longer blade
 
Still working on my Dan Burke Barlow...the wharncliffe bevels were way off from side to side, I just about have it with the DMT aligner at 20 degrees but it's taken hours even with the coarse stone. I really need to get an extra coarse before I start on the mess they made on the main blade. In the interim I put a useable edge (and removed the ding from the center pin) on the main blade with my Sharpmaker. I'm not much good at sharpening yet, and still learning what to do/not to do with guided systems. Freehand is a different story though one of these days I'll get the hang of it, I practice with a small stone on junk knives.

I hesitate to send anything to Queen after reading all the stories here. Good luck!
 
I've been working on it off and on. I'm just going to take it with me on vacation, and get it sharpened by a knife shop near the shore, or wait and get Scott to sharpen it. I really like the knife and it's utility, but I've only gotten it halfway sharp, and when I try to finish it off, I think I am rounding the edge. PIA big time!
 
I won't buy another Queen until they start to ship finished knives. I bought a very nice looking knife-like-object made by them once, and after spending countless hours trying to finish the edge into something useful I gave up. It sits at the back of a drawer now, sharper than they shipped it, but still not useful.
 
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