Carl, thank you some great pics!  And your new knife is awesome!!!

That is one great looking knife.  The pic is fabulous as well.

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

That's a great picture Carl! 

I thought you guys would like this, This is Brennen Alberth, he is our spokes Kid for the Kiddo Project. He got his first knife in 2013 at the age of one. He came back this year for his second knife brining a dollar so he didn't break the friendship! So excited to see this little boy grow up and complete his Kiddo Knife Collection! 

Awesome.  Other companies should take notice of the caring and generosity displayed by Queen Cutlery.

I agree with both of you.  Thanks for pic and I certainly wish more companies would think about the next generation of collectors.

Thank you Queen Cutlery for building our 2014 knife and giving us the opportunity to make it unique

OK, nobody has checked this out?

The patterns, the info on them.  This is years in the making.  A way to date and know about your Queen knives

and that is just a small part of what Queen has put in thier historical documents

http://www.queencutlery.com/Historical_Documents.html

I've been looking, very nice.  I wish every knife company would do this for their fans/collectors.  Once again, Queen is leading the way.

We have been looking at the new historical documents info.   It looks like it will answer lots of questions for queen collectors and give some good information comparable to other knife companies.      I have really wanted queen information from 1980 to present and it looks like this will be helpful. 

I have collected a lot of queen #11 knives , vintage to present.   The information shows the birds eye maple #11 has 2 blades.   Is this a typo?   Thanks for all the work that went into this project.  Will look forward to using it more.

Jack,

I am sorry I dont know the answer to that but I did send it to Fred to see if we can get you an answer on it

This is a typo.  All #11s are one blade.  I will get a note to Ryan and Dand to correct the error.  Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Fred

I appreciate the query by Llantz on  the model 11 in Birds eye maple - Fred is right it is a typo. And thankjs to Jan for forwarding it.  Wonderful to get feedback - We will keep weeding out errors as we assemble a "second edition.  This is all volunteer work, and we will collect errors until we have found enough to justify making a complete set of new reports - so you may not see this fixed until closer to Christmas... but we will fix it.

There may be other changes that collectors would like in introductory paragraphs or instructions. As well as finding all the typos. So please keep these comments and questions coming.  It takes a village to do knife history....

Thanks,

Dan

Just nboticed Ron Dumeah's query about handle codes.  Thank you. There is NOT a separate and complete list of handle material codes as of yet.  We will add that to our "refinement list."  

For the present, I would suggest focusing on the series reports for all models produced with a given handle material (say birds eye maple - BEM).  If you search model # reports, you can see how many different handle materials have been used with a knife from 1980 -2013, and in each line you will see the handle material spelled out, so you can get a good sense of the handle codes.

Some long-running series, (like Rawhide) have changes in handles and bolsters that are not really spelled out in the catalog pages, but are very interesting.  You have to dig for those, but if you take the time to go to the catalog page images, you can see the different treatments, but they are not defined in the texts or in our database.

Thanks,

Dan. 

Dan & Fred

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions.  This was such a big undertaking for you all and we sincerely appreciate it

Just notices there is a new barehead beauty!  I could only find a pic at one location so I am posting that pic.  Hope TSA Knives wont be upset LOL

Burnt genuine stag

BG-42 Steel

1 of 100

ALSO A NEW SHORT RUN OF 100 QUEEN CITY COPPERHEAD

 Rosewood handles and 1095 steel

And have you seen the historical ads??

Notice on the Queen Cutlery page

"Please be informed we are discontinuing the Curly Zebra Wood from the line.  A new wood handle will be available soon."

So if you like that Curly Zebra wood start looking now, this means what is out there will see a price increase I am sure

Just a little something to promote Queen knives.

Looking good, Jeremy.

This is a contest that we are doing on our Facebook! Make sure you stop and check it out! 

queen facebook page

Queen Mountain Man 3ACSB Aged Honey Amber Bone: been wanting this knife and got it from Reed Cutlery at Knife Days, Wilmington, Ohio

Lucky you, Ken!

I've been wanting that knife for longer than I can remember!

Enjoy it in good health, my friend.

I did not realize just how much I would like the mountain man until I owned one.  Congrats Ken and thanks for supporting an iKC supporter!

Congrats Ken ! There's a reason that the Mountain Man is by FAR the best selling knife Queen makes. It is one of my absolute favorites in my collection.

I have one too and love it-great knife.

Pretty, small pocket knives are for small jobs. The bigger mountainman with a lock and a large blade and handle is a superb knife if you have real work to do.. 

Since its humble beginning in the mid 1970s, Queen has steadily upgraded and improved this knife.  Once upon a time I heard some complaints of loose lock-up- 13 of the14 models I have were tight, strong, and sharp.. The one that wobbled a bit was fixed great by the factory without any hassle and was back in my hands in less than a month - Queen honors it warranty.

There have been some wonderful special editions - the first Daniels limited run (late '12 to 2013 ,n-400) had some absolutely beautiful stag and bone versions. 

This is truly a big user knife worthy of serious collecting.

.

Have a question about a S&M knife I recently bought.  It's a Limited Edition Doctor's knife, no date.  The box states "Mossy Swamp":

I can't find any reference to that handle material.  And does anyone know what the date would be?

thanks,

ds

I believe your knife was made in 1994, Dave?

That's the year that the numbers - 042 296 - etched on the spatula blade seem to correspond to.

Ya know what, Dave...I'm gonna step back from my statement about your knife being made in '94. Because, although the numbers correspond to your knife, my records indicate that the S&M Doctor's knife in '94 were an orange colored corn cob jigged bone. So, I guess your Mossy Swamp remains a mystery?

I'm fairly new to knife collecting... just always had a knife but didn't know much about them.  Been reading and learning more about knives and bought 3 new S&M recently... along with the Doctor's knife below, another pearl handled Doctor's knife (would make a great pipe tool but I don't want to mess them up) and a great Heritage Series Jack that's my current EDC.  Found this older queen and it arrived today.  Looks to be later 1940s.  Nice knife!  I'm liking Queen... old and new! ;-)

-ds

Dave,

Glad you have found Queen and are liking them.  Those heritage series Jacks are sweet I can see why it went straight to the pocket!  Check out the new workhorse series also.  Wont break the pocket, is very much like the one you just pictured and makes for one heck of a user

Dave,

I saw this knife on Ebay - right?  Big spey blade....probably more targeted to genitals (farm animals) than fruit when it was made. I am not strong on the older knives, but the Q centered over "stainless" is often associated more with very early 1950s and not used for too long . 

Your photo s great -- I think it is delrin handle - so smooth?  I am often surprised at how early delrin was used and how long the transition from bone took.  I have a model 36 from mid 60s that is bone.

Lot of detective work and hard-won knowledge with Queen knives.  I hope soon Queen will add some catalogs from the 1950s to their Historical documents and lots more questions will be easy to answer.

Thanks for posting

Dan 

Here's my view of the knife.  First of all, this knife is made on the No 19 pattern but it only has the 19 style spay blade.  The No 19 trapper was never made in the stainless era.  It did not come out until 1958.  They did not make the delrin winterbottom in the stainless era and never made a single blade version in that era.  This knife with that spay blade was not made in the that era.  The nail nick is on the wrong side of the blade to far out and the wrong shape. So what does all this mean, that this is a contract knife made to customers orders.  I have a former  good friend and distributer of Queen knives who told me he sold these type of knives to a truck farmer in California who gave to the workers to use and the reason for the spay blade was no point so no one got stuck.  No etch and no identifying number was less cost.  I feel this knife was made much later and was a good work knife.  

Wow, Both of you gave us some great info there!

Very impressive! Thanks a lot to you, Dan and Frederick!

YEAH!  Thank you Fred for definitive comment!   Your 40+ years of collecting and detailed knowledge of earlier knives through personal contact with both makers and sellers is just what we need.  .

OK, so it was for vegetables, not castration....

And Delrin was not used in early 50s.

And?  Queen saved and used older blades in special orders?

Thanks,

Dan 

Wow, thanks Dan and Fred!  I had based my date on something someone has posted on Queen tang stamps.   That stamp was dated c1946-50.  But I have found another one that states c1952-55, which I assume is more correct?  Hard to learn when your references don't match! ;-)

Fred, someday I'll learn to read a knife like that. Great info and read. Did think it was odd to only have the Spey blade.  But I'm not clear... is the blade an older blade, i.e. pre-1958? Or was the stamp used after the stated date of 1955?  Or?

Do you have an approx date for those contract knives?

Any suggestions on a reference to at least know about the No19 pattern and when it was made?

Again, thanks so much everyone!  I have a long, long way to go but I love learning about this history.

-ds

Dave, hope I can clear up some things.  First of all the only thing on that knife pre 1958 is the tang stamp.  The blade or any part of the knife is post 1958 and made today.  Previously they only had pattern No 24 which is a light weight trapper.  The first 19s were offered in both winterbottom and amber handles with satin finish (rare0 or typical Queen polish finish. This being a contract knife which Queen releases no information on as to production or anything else, the customer selects from a menu of options as to how they want the knife made and yes this is a spay blade design for castration but the customer selects what they want.  It is my understanding they picked the spay blade so people in altercatations would not hurt or stab one another.  No part of the no 19 was made during the stainless era so it wasn't possible to put a new blade in a knife because the knife wasn't made during that era.  Again, the No 19 pattern was started in 1958 in bone and amber and then later in delrin and today made in many different handle materials  My friend told me the truck farmer from California came to him and ordered 300 knives at a time.  This was in the 1990s.    

Thanks Fred!  1990s is much later than I thought but that's ok, it's still a cool knife and now includes an interesting story.

-ds

Guys,

I am not a Queen historian, but am trying to understand Dave's knife.

1. The spey blade is stamped "stainless" which Queen used in the 1940s and discontinued the "stainless" stamping in 1950.

2. The #19 Trapper pattern was not introduced until 1958, and Dave's knife, while using the #19 pattern, has only one blade (spey blade).  I get that this knife is an SFO - probably from that CA farmer.

3. I get that Delrin, for Queen knives, or the #19 Trapper, didn't appear until later than 1958.

4. Not disputing that Dave's knife was made much later - possibly the '90s, but can't figure out why the blade would have a tang stamp of "stainless" if that stamping ended in 1950, in favor of calling it "Queen Steel" (same steel, different name)?  Old blade, "new" knife?  Or, did Queen go back to the "stainless" tang stamp in the '90s.

 I agree that this is a confusing knife, but I have no doubt Fred has it correct. The tang stamp bothers me too.  I think the implication is "Whatever the customer wants" in a special order... So the old tang stamp was put on a newer19 spey blade. 

I keep thinking --" they used an older blade", but probably not - they just put on the tang stamp the customer picked.  Certainly we see that in older stamps being used on special edition knives - like Queen city stamps. 

It also makes me think in using published Queen tang stamp guides, that they might apply accurately to catalog knives primarily  - not so much to special order knives..