What Should I Know first about Queen Cutlery?

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Nathan Dewey

Nathan Dewey

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I've been eying a Canoe from them and want to know how they typically are out of the box. Do they need to be cleaned out first like Case? How are the factory edges? Also, is the Canoe single or double spring?
 
I've not had any problems with grit in my Queens from the factory. The factory edges on mine have ranged from barely acceptable to atrocious, but I have pretty high standards for acceptable sharpness, so I generally put my own edge on my knives before I use them anyway. My Queen canoe is a single spring, but it is an older model, so they could have changed by now.
 
I recently bought a Stockman. I did not need to clean it. The blade profiles and alignment were close to perfect. The blades were pretty much paper tearing dull. Overall, I am happy with the knife and the D2 keeps its edge once you get it sharpened.
 
As has already been said, the Queens I've bought generally have blades that resemble butter knives, but they are great once you get them sharpened.
 
Queen is famous for butter knife edges. They are sometimes not sharp at all and the ones that are reasonably sharp have oblique edge angles at something like a 30° per side angle. A diamond hone is strongly recommended.

That being said, once sharpened, they are very nice knives with fit and finish only a bit below that of GEC. The spring strength is usually just right for me, approximating that of an SAK. I've not noticed any grit in the action.
 
Regarding spring strength, the one exception to the rule might be the Country Cousin. VERY stout spring on these. I have four; they're all the same. And fit/finish is typical of most sodbuster-style 'working knives'. As with all of Queen's current line, the D2 makes these exceptional.

My Cattle King stockman, for spring strength, is as near to ideal as can be. Not too light, not too stiff. Just right. :)

Ditto, to the above comments regarding 'thick' edges out of the box. Diamond or silicon carbide (such as wet/dry sandpaper) works quite well, to reprofile.
 
You generally need to re-profile the D2 blade at least that has been the case on a couple Queens I've purchased. With a bit of effort from a diamond stone, they sharpen right up razor sharp and retain the edge quite well. I've been temped to buy a canoe pattern blade from them. I like my Mountain Man and Trappers.
 
I had a older queen copperhead that came dull, and I bought a whittler a few months ago that had a pretty good edge. So I guess it's a crap shoot. But if you have diamond sharpeners, they really are great knives. The fit and finsh fall somewhere between case and gec, leaning more towards the gec side.
 
Sounds good. I'm actually a knifemaker so sharpening is no problem. I've also had good experience with D2.
 
wagglebee said:
As has already been said, the Queens I've bought generally have blades that resemble butter knives, but they are great once you get them sharpened.
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Yup, great knives if they employed someone who knows how to sharpen or just leave them completely blank and i'll profile myself. :D
 
I bought a Queen mini trapper fairly recently. It looks pretty good with only a few minor flaws, but the blades came incredibly dull. At the moment all I have is a sharpmaker, so it's stayed dull. I'd love to EDC the knife, but I can't until I fix the bevels and get it shaving sharp.
 
Well, my Queen canoe is one of my most favourite knives with Queen Dan Burke small Barlow... but it took me 3 samples of Canoes before I got acceptable level Canoe due gaps, attrocious blade play. Finally I got good one from the Queen itself had small blade play but I fixed it. Nice tight, single spring canoe with very good bevels and edge for factory knife. Nice, smooth pull, good back spring, gorgeous handles.

Queen is reputated of patchiness and its main sins are blade play and gaps. Queen is definately excellent maker but I'd get Queen knives first hand so I could pick best out of many or have someone do that for me. Queen how ever makes everything right if you live in the states and knife is not satisfactory. If you're outside states, its bit more complicated but doable. My Canoe from factory push cuts paper and shaves hair easily. I am quite impressed of its sharpness based on what I heard of Queens edges prior.
 
Nathan Dewey said:
What Should I Know first about Queen Cutlery?
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If you are ordering online, just have extremely low expectations and you shouldn't be disappointed. Of course the same thing should be said about Case as well.
I feel only maybe 25 -30% of what they build could be describes as "good" all the way around.
If you are in the least bit picky about your knives you should absolutely plan on being disappointed with one or more aspects of the knife you buy unseen, and half the time it will be an unacceptable flaw.
As a result I will not buy a Queen knife unseen unless I trust the sellers description of the actual knife I will receive.
 
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Nathan Dewey said:
I've been eying a Canoe from them and want to know how they typically are out of the box. Do they need to be cleaned out first like Case? How are the factory edges? Also, is the Canoe single or double spring?
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I don't have any, but I hear they are made by men wearing dresses. It is, however, interesting that they make boats. ((sorry, but I'm runnin' on 3 hours sleep, and the meds are in full effect!)
 
What do you need to know about Queen knives?

You will be getting a solid workers knife with a fine steel that will need to be sharpened

Very nice swedged blades that sit nicely
The wood and the bone scales are very good
Sometimes there will be some gap between the springs and the scales
Sometimes there will some blade rub on the small stockmans
No junk in the joints

I have never had blade play on my many Queen knives

Well worth the money
 
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