Traditional Queen with modern High Performance Steel?

[hunterjrg]

Lots of a great points to consider. I just wonder if the interest would be there to even support a modest effort to produce a special run of say 300.

It is hard say honestly. Your die hard trads probably will pass which is a shame

 

[knarfeng]

It is hard say honestly. Your die hard trads probably will pass which is a shame

Watch the sales of the Cold Steel stockman. IIRC they are running about 300 of them. See how fast they sell. Like I said. I have experience looking at production costs. The Cold Steel MSRP does not seem out of line to me.

 

[KBA]

Truly fine Brett Dowell Trapper, wow, pretty well impossible to get a better Traditional style folder than that.
kj

Thanks KJ. I appreciate that. It is my 1st custom.

 

[hunterjrg]

Watch the sales of the Cold Steel stockman. IIRC they are running about 300 of them. See how fast they sell. Like I said. I have experience looking at production costs. The Cold Steel MSRP does not seem out of line to me.

I did googlefu the Cold Steel stockman and what a beauty it is but at more than triple the cost of other nice large stockmans hmmmm.

Let's not make it a limited edition and mass produce them to drive the cost down.

Darn fine knife that Cold Steel stockman

 

[kootenay joe]

The premium steels take longer to grind and 'eat up' more belts in the process so this adds significantly to cost.
Is there not some 'middle ground' here ? I have had good luck with blades of CPM154. How much harder is this to grind compared with 1095 or 440C ?
I'm not sure what the purpose would be of making a traditional style folder with an expensive steel other than to make it edge hold longer. So a 'middle ground' might be a steel that is not difficult to grind or heat treat and can reliably be brought to an Rc of ~ 62.
Maybe the steel experts can give a list of which steels fit these criteria ?
kj

 

[Dean51]

Better steel equals better edge holding and no rust. So give me the chance to choose any steel I want & M390 comes to mind immediately.

Now that it's been suggested that I might actually have to pay for it.
CPM-D2 or CPM 154 with a nice smooth bone handle.

 

[AusLoX]

Here it is in short.

Build it and they will come


Where have I heard that?


Build it and they will come

Exactly...if there's demand for something then someone will produce.

"Field of Dreams" w00t!!

 

[AusLoX]

Better steel equals better edge holding and no rust. So give me the chance to choose any steel I want & M390 comes to mind immediately.

Now that it's been suggested that I might actually have to pay for it.
CPM-D2 or CPM 154 with a nice smooth bone handle.

Cpm154, S35vn, s90, or m390. Tempered right. I totally agree with the no rust factor and durable razor edge. Someone get this going. Maybe northwoods. KSF listening?

 

[hunterjrg]

Single bladed knife. Lanny's clip?
Anyone anyone

 

[greg c]

Even with great steel and materials Queen will have to up their manufacturing quality to command super premium prices.

 

[Dean51]

These steels are easy to find 154CM, CPM-154, ATS-34, SV30, D2, there just aren't as many pattern choices available as say GEC's in 1095.
I don't think we'll find M390 in production knives for a long time, until cost comes down, for the both the production & the steel.
I've been very happy with Queen's knives in D2 and Northwoods CPM-154, "Sharpen On Sunday and cut all week”.
I'm betting that as the modern users realize over size & thick won't cut it, we'll see more pattern and steel choices.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Personally, yeah, M390 is pretty great stuff, I'd suggest going with Carpenter's steel to keep it in the USofA, they might find they will work with them to get something out that's more traditional.

And I'm with the folks here, upgrade the steel, leave the look and handle material traditional. Well, except I'd opt for a steel pivot pin verses using nickel silver pins just because they will blend in with the nickel bolsters. I know they will work and probably for a long time, but it seems odd to use that as a pivot pin to me. So my vote would be for a higher grade blade steel and steel pivot pin

G2

 

[Fanglekai]

If they made a good one and kept the price low by some miracle I'd buy it. I wouldn't pay 3x as much just for a different steel. I think cost is the driving factor.

 

[KBA]

I would also pick up a "traditional" in elmax.

 

[Thomas Carey]

My guess is the cost would be double or more which of course would kill the idea, no doubt it's the reason it has not been done as of yet. Even if Queen could not produce the blanks in house I wonder if a way around that could be to have them water jet cut or some such by a vendor that has experience doing that with one of the high performance steels.

Another issue could be grinding the blanks as well as heat treat which may have to also be outsourced to a specialist. While there would be some market for such a knife even at a substantially higher price.

The question is would there be enough of a market for the 300 or more you would have to produce?

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Maybe it could be more along the lines of what Case does with their Tony Bose yearly issues. Those knives are typically around the $300 to $400 mark and seem to sell out quickly but they are limited edition and more work into them, so the price is up.

G2

 

[Thomas Carey]

Maybe it could be more along the lines of what Case does with their Tony Bose yearly issues. Those knives are typically around the $300 to $400 mark and seem to sell out quickly but they are limited edition and more work into them, so the price is up.

G2

Very good point. In order to justify such a price. In addition to the upgraded blade material. What other items should be upgraded over a standard production knife?

 

[Thomas Carey]

Personally, yeah, M390 is pretty great stuff, I'd suggest going with Carpenter's steel to keep it in the USofA, they might find they will work with them to get something out that's more traditional.

And I'm with the folks here, upgrade the steel, leave the look and handle material traditional. Well, except I'd opt for a steel pivot pin verses using nickel silver pins just because they will blend in with the nickel bolsters. I know they will work and probably for a long time, but it seems odd to use that as a pivot pin to me. So my vote would be for a higher grade blade steel and steel pivot pin

G2

Which steel from Carpenter would you suggest?

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Which steel from Carpenter would you suggest?

Well, if frogs had wings, I'd certainly like to see the CTS-204p as that's the cat's pj's right now from them, barring that, the CTS-XHP also takes a great edge and cuts well.

As to other features that brings the $ value up would be fit and finish, as you can imagine, people are far more critical when they pay out about the same price or just below a custom maker.

Stainless bolsters would be needed, some select scale material as well, stag, rams horn, ebony always a favorite.

And of course, a solid pattern that people are looking for, and a padded zippered pouch to round it off.

G2

 

[Bob W]

As a sometimes-buyer of Queen knives, I would not be interested in synthetic handles. I might pay a markup for less-common or premium-grade natural materials.

Nor would I be interested in paying a huge markup for "cutting edge" steel. I'd rather have reasonable prices and an established more-common steel like 440C, D2, or ATS-34.