So what's up with Queen

I have a Queen Mountain Man in 1095 that I have EDC'ed for over two years, and it is just developing a hint of side to side movement. It was sharp, but not that sharp when I got it, but again the lock up was very strong, yet by pinching the blade I could open int one handed. Overall I have been very pleased with it. One question, Brisket posted a photo of his, which is maybe D2 as the blade markings are different and it does not say 1095 Carbon Steel. His knife's medallion has the crown on the Q pointed to the left of the handle, while my Mountain Man and others I have seen have the medallion, and Q oriented lengthwise, pointing to the blade. Does anyone know why they are different? Is it to indicated D2 vice 1095? Thanks,
John
 
All I can add really is that of all my production knives, the Queens are the ones I would most hate to lose....

I've had excellent experience with their WCSB and the current ACSB knives in D2, less good the ones in Zebra or BEM. The stainless Schatts and their Heritage series are more problematic, some issues with these but the Carved Bone series Queens are worth every penny, and more.

I'm not too keen on their current offerings, the aesthetics don't always please me (Keystone shields on stag Barlows...) and some patterns have frankly looked well odd to my eye, e.g. the Sheffield Jack

Teardrop liner-lock D2 blade WCSB scales.

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I've got one Queen, a Canoe in D2 which I like. It had a little blade play when I got it which I fixed. Pull was a little light. Also, it was dull when I got it. It is quite an attractive knife with good steel and worth what I paid easily. It was about 3 years ago, so "Old Queen".

I don't like to re-profile D2, but it isn't a deal breaker at all if the price is good and the knife is good quality otherwise.

Not my pic
 
I would really like to see some jigged bone covers like peachseed and corn cob on their knives. I'm not really a big fan of their stag looking stuff. I like their knives though. Generally, they turn out a pretty good knife.
 
I almost forgot that I have a Queen City Canoe (Cozy Glen Classic Knives) in 1095, with amber colored bone scales and an acorn medallion. Good tension on both blades, and they both came sharp. John
 
Curtis Lowe said:
I'm pretty good at sharpening knives but the last Queen that I owned simply would not take an edge. I used all methods and materials trying to get it sharp.
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Yeah, same here. My dad gave me a Queen Trapper and even after reprofiling it isn't a very slicy knife because it's so thick behind the edge. Nice user though.
jacktrades_nbk said:
All the Queen knives that passed trough my hands needed some serious reprofiling before i could call them acceptable. Those were two serpentine jacks and a canoe.
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Woodrow F Call said:
I would really like to see some jigged bone covers like peachseed and corn cob on their knives. I'm not really a big fan of their stag looking stuff. I like their knives though. Generally, they turn out a pretty good knife.
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Try these.
 
Right you are Brian! It's the Queen QCCC series Teardrop in Ebony, 2 blades carbon. The other two are Green Bone and Winterbottom Red. They did one in stag too but I didn't much like their choice of stag. Thanks for the appreciation.:thumbup:

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John A. Larsen said:
I have a Queen Mountain Man in 1095 that I have EDC'ed for over two years, and it is just developing a hint of side to side movement. It was sharp, but not that sharp when I got it, but again the lock up was very strong, yet by pinching the blade I could open int one handed. Overall I have been very pleased with it. One question, Brisket posted a photo of his, which is maybe D2 as the blade markings are different and it does not say 1095 Carbon Steel. His knife's medallion has the crown on the Q pointed to the left of the handle, while my Mountain Man and others I have seen have the medallion, and Q oriented lengthwise, pointing to the blade. Does anyone know why they are different? Is it to indicated D2 vice 1095? Thanks,
John
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John, I believe that question about the shield orientation has come up before and the answer was that it was simply random placement and did not signify anything about that particular knife. I have another Mountain Man in Curly Zebra Wood which also has D2 steel. Neither of mine came with or developed side to side blade play but the Curly Zebra has a very slight up & down no worse than what I have experienced in GEC's lockbacks.

QueenMountainManCurlyZebra1_zpsa72e0e66.jpg


Here is one of my favorite Queen products, a collectors series Ontario Rat D2 punch blade stockman (Cattle King #41) with rams horn covers.

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Other than some butter knife thick edges and the occasional beartrap pull (both of which GEC is occasionally guilty of) I have overall been satisfied with my Queen purchases. I am very found of their Robeson sfo knives they made several years back and I have a recent production AGR serpentine jack in rams horn and D2 that is one of my favorites and actually came sharp!
 
I really like Queen. I am reluctant to buy any recently like others here, waiting for the quality to get better. I like how they put on swedges and don't tumble their blades like Case. I've had 2 Cozy Glens, a Canoe in D2 and a small trapper in 1095. Others were a recent Mountain Man with blade play which I sent back and they fixed. The other, my favorite, was a Zebra wood #9 stockman. That knife would be in my pocket right now if the main blade spring didn't break. I sent it back, and they replaced it with a real sloppy one with bad blade play. I've always wanted one of those big dogleg Schatt &Morgan stockman's and I will get one sooner or later. I don't mind re-profiling a blade if there is meat left on it. If they can't put an edge on it, leave it alone. I like blades with a decent choil. I have also owned a nice Robeson Barlow and a MooreMaker stockman, both Queen made and sharp out of the box.
 
Brisket, thanks for the reply. I also have an Ontario Rat D2 and like it a lot, I did not know it was made by Queen. John
 
I really wish that I could be hopeful about Queen's new ownership, but sadly I'm not. I have been a big fan of Queen's traditional slipjoints since the 90's. I estimate that I have owned between 70 and 100 Schatts, and probably 50 to 60 of the D2 knives in the various bone and wood variations that they have offered. I bought to resell, to collect, and as EDC's. These were all knives made under the previous owners, and I can only recall maybe one or two that I had to send back due to QC issues. And I think I'm as picky as anyone, since I am primarily a collector of antique pocket knives pre 1940 so that's how I judge the QC on a knife.

Over the past year I have picked up six of the Queen D2 knives that I know (based on pattern and/or handle material) were made in 2014. Two wood handled whittlers I sent back for refunds since the blades hit each other so badly. Two bone handled whittlers I did not like at all - Queen recently changed their source for the ACSB bone handle material, and the new stuff is IMO ghastly in both look and feel. So clunky and roughly finished that the knives did not pocket well and actually hurt my hand to use them.

That leaves two railsplitters. One in the original ACSB material (prior to the change) was as nice as any of the earlier Queens I had. The other railsplitter in wood was ok, solid with no QC problems, but it was boxier and showed less skill in hafting of the handles and bolsters, which traditionally had been one of Queen's strong points.

I'm still willing to give them a chance, but I am not impressed so far.
 
I've got 2 Queen knives in D2 steel.

The first is a #70 Country Cousin in green linen Micarta (first generation with the small shield). I bought it used from the Exchange forum here. It is a decently-made knife with only one flaw, and that is that the backspring sits a bit proud when fully open. Walk and talk is perfect, blade centered, overall fit and finish good. I believe the previous owner had already sharpened it, so I can't attest to what the factory edge was like. I have refined it further and it is a very sharp knife. I like it. It doesn't get the pocket time it deserves but I'll get around to it some day.

The other is a just acquired #9 ACSB large stockman. It is new from a dealer, but I don't know if it is old stock or not (though I suspect it is). No gaps, everything flush open and closed, and all three blades are actually very sharp right out of the box. I'm not sure what the difference is between old and new ACSB but this one looks and feels pretty good. Very little blade rub and the walk and talk on all three blades is good. The pull is lighter than GECs and more in line with Case or Buck, which for me is a plus - I hate nail-breaker pulls.

So I guess I got lucky with my two, or else they are from the older runs that were of better quality. No complaints here.
 
I would say I have handled as many Queen knives as anyone around. Well, maybe not, but it seems like a lot of them.

I completely agree that they have been hit and miss over the past few years. I am extremely hopeful that their QC will improve. I talk to them regularly about it.

The last run of knives I received from them was the best in years. The one before that I sent back about 1/4 of them.

They will be better. My hope is that they get better soon enough that everyone doesn't abandon hope in them.
 
okbohn said:
The last run of knives I received from them was the best in years. The one before that I sent back about 1/4 of them.
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How are the latest runs of Indian River Jacks? I appreciated your candidness about previous runs and it really helped calibrate our expectations. The Ram looks tempting. I have no idea why they changed ACSB vendors.
 
John A. Larsen said:
I almost forgot that I have a Queen City Canoe (Cozy Glen Classic Knives) in 1095, with amber colored bone scales and an acorn medallion. Good tension on both blades, and they both came sharp. John
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Trivia: You know who contracted Cozy Glen Knives?
Answer: The current owner of Queen contracted them from Queen working with the current owner of GEC.

Trivia: Where did the name come from?
Answer: The street they lived on.

Sounds true. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.... ;)
 
I am of the camp that won't buy another Queen unless I can handle it. Judging by last weekend's guns show that had about 3-4 thousand knives, that may be never. I saw about 25 - 30 new Queens and probably 100 old ones. No Queen dealers, though.

The last Queen I bought from a vendor cured me of Queen. I have several, but the last one I bought had a lazy spring, so bad that I had to push the blade closed. Oiled it, cleaned it, put some high powered lube on it, and it was the same thing. Contacted the dealer and he told me that if it wasn't lazy spring, the next one might have lousy scales on it. Or bad grinds. Or rubbing blades. He went on to tell me that the only job of the spring was to keep the blade closed, which made sense. I liked the pattern, the rest of the knife was great, so I kept it. The spring got even weaker with very marginal use, and now it has to be pushed almost down into the case to get it to close. It sits in the drawer unused, reminding me of Queen's quality.

I don't like sending anything back to the dealers as it makes them mad, and me madder for having to do it. So it is a lose/lose. I know many here don't mind at all, but not me, I don't like it. So the result is to not put myself in that position, so no more Queens for now.

It is hard to justify buying a new Queen (although I do love that D2) when my nearly 40 year old CASE copperhead that has been used so much that the heads came off some of the pins on the scales, the profile of the blade is different from sharpening, and the scales are getting close to smooth from pocket carry - not to mention a chocolate brown color from hand oils... still snaps shut. Granted, much weaker than when new in '76, but still it is mechanically superior to that new Queen. And I know what that CASE has been though because I did it! To me, a new knife should at least perform as well as a 40 year old user.

Robert
 
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midnight flyer said:
...Contacted the dealer and he told me that if it wasn't lazy spring, the next one might have lousy scales on it. Or bad grinds. Or rubbing blades. He went on to tell me that the only job of the spring was to keep the blade closed, which made sense...I don't like sending anything back to the dealers as it makes them mad, and me madder for having to do it. So it is a lose/lose. I know many here don't mind at all, but not me, I don't like it. So the result is to not put myself in that position, so no more Queens for now...
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Possibly the dealer wanted you to keep the knife so he could keep your money. Discouraging returns is a time honored method of maximizing sales income. In addition, there are vendors who check their knives upon receipt or before shipping; this dealer appears to not be one of them. If he truly believes there are problems with a manufacturer, why does he not check their knives before shipment. Returns are part of life, if the dealer gets "mad" they should not be in mail order sales.

If you all "walk the talk" of supporting traditional patterns made in the USA, then you need to foster competition. Idle speculation on quality w/o a knife in hand can kill a company in these days of instant mis-communication through the internet. Not contacting the company when you have a quality problem does both yourself and the knife maker a disservice. Quality is a two way street and customer satisfaction is the goal. If you don't tell Queen when you are dissatisfied, you do your hobby, or if you prefer, this community, a disservice.

It is true, that when some key individuals of a company leave to start a competing business, this leaves the long-standing, respected company with a gap, but also an opportunity to change for the better. Why not be more positive, instead of saying you will only buy old stock?
 
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