All About Pocket Knives

I was always under the impression that Bluegrass in Manchester Ohio did not manufacture knives.
I thougt they had them made by companies like Queen.
I was pretty sure that Queen made some Primble and Winchesters for Bluegrass.
In the latest issue of Knife Magazine is a small article about new John Primble Trappers it states that "Bluegrass is still making Primble Knives at their plant in Manchester Ohio".
So, does anyone know for sure. Does Bluegrass manufacture knives in Manchester. If yes, were all their knives made there.

They assemble some knives in Manchester.

I thought all the current line was made in China?

Hey edge.
They actually manufacture Winchester knives at their factory. Winchester by Blue Grass Cutlery. I have 9 that were made between 1989 to 1998. They are quite high quality knives. Something compared to Queen knives. They have their own website too. They aren't the cheap Chinese Winchesters.
I'm not 100% certain. Correct me if i am wrong. I think maybe Blue Grass got Queen to make knives for them. Just not sure when. Please correct me if i am wrong guys.
Here is a link to their website. All up to date.
http://www.bluegrasscutlery.com/

Queen did make some knives for them in the past.They also stamped out parts enough to last for years.They are located about 25 miles from me.Here is a photo of their building.

WillyCamaro wrote:Hey edge.
They actually manufacture Winchester knives at their factory. Winchester by Blue Grass Cutlery. I have 9 that were made between 1989 to 1998. They are quite high quality knives. Something compared to Queen knives. They have their own website too. They aren't the cheap Chinese Winchesters.
I'm not 100% certain. Correct me if i am wrong. I think maybe Blue Grass got Queen to make knives for them. Just not sure when. Please correct me if i am wrong guys.
Here is a link to their website. All up to date.
http://www.bluegrasscutlery.com/

To best of my knowledge BlueGrass Cutlery is primarily a jobber/middleman having knives made by others. Queen used to make a lot of knives contracted by BlueGrass for others (Moore Maker and Case Classics being good examples). Most of what documentation or statements I have seen are carefully worded - they never come right out and say BlueGrass actually “manufactures” knives. I was surprised somewhat to see Roger’s post saying they “assemble” some knives in their Manchester facility, but I’m sure he knows more than me.

There is a subtle but important difference between “manufacture” and “assemble”. All of Blue Grass’s current line is not made in China, either. Most if not all of it is U.S. made. I haven’t seen anything from Blue Grass marked “China”. Their Winchester line is made under license from Olin Corporation, which owns the Winchester name. My speculation is that with the demise of Queen, they’ve moved their tooling to Utica, Ontario, or Bear to make both Winchester and Primble knives. Maybe they have enough parts made by Queen that they don’t need anything “for years” and they just assemble those parts into knives now.

Ken

That's a really good point Ken. Even more to think about
Maybe even Colonial is making knife parts for them? Or maybe not? Who knows. GEC could be quietly producing parts for them too. All the mystery is half the fun anyway

All the Primble knives that Blue Grass Cutlery sell are made in China EXCEPT the Barlows. I was looking into becoming a dealer for them last year and got all the information. I don’t know how they are staying stocked w/ all the old WInchesters. The ones that you see them offering are made in the USA and are date stamped from the correct period.
I will say that I decided not to become a dealer because I saw certain dealers selling these on eBay lower than they would sell to me a dealer. I also see them selling a Winchester every day on a “special” that you can buy directly from them for less than the dealer can buy it. I don’t like it when companies play games like that. They need consistent pricing and need to support their dealers instead of competing against them. I won’t do business with them for that reason.
SSk

Roger in the picture there is a large 2 story white building. Do you know if the Blue Grass 'operation' takes up all or most of this building ? or just an office & storage room and the rest is used by other businesses ?
If they occupy only a small fraction of that building they are not doing any manufacturing.
kj

Roland,they own and occupy the whole building.They also manufacture aluminum display cases there also.

"they own and occupy the whole building"
That makes a difference. They do then have the space to be assembling knives.
Years ago i read a post which stated that BGC place of business consists of an office and a store room for receiving and shipping knives.
The cutlery business is oddly secretive, in the past and still today.
kj

I've seen "Blue Grass Cutlery" discussed several times over the years and most of it has been opinions and conjecture. Blue Grass "seems" to keep their operation close to the vest and reading all those "opinions", I came away with the assumption that Blue Grass doesn't manufacture any knives. Not once during those discussions do I remember reading that someone had actually been inside the four walls of that building. It's all still a bit murky.

I have been in the 4 walls many times.I have not actually been in the factory part.Blue supplied me with bone for the 1st 2 Maher & Grosh runs.The 1st with Queen and the next knife with GEC.The Scott's are very secretive. Tim is not has bad as his dad Dave was.

Is this the same building? We've seen pictures on here before but I can't find them now. Maybe 3 -4 years ago?

http://www.s-denterprises.com/

jerryd6818 wrote:I've seen "Blue Grass Cutlery" discussed several times over the years and most of it has been opinions and conjecture. Blue Grass "seems" to keep their operation close to the vest and reading all those "opinions", I came away with the assumption that Blue Grass doesn't manufacture any knives. Not once during those discussions do I remember reading that someone had actually been inside the four walls of that building. It's all still a bit murky.

Over the years I've read exactly what Jerry is stating, once because I asked about Olin and Winchester knives. The expert consensus then was Blue Grass Cutlery did not make knives but had knives made for them by others and if you went to their shop you would not find anyone home. Seems like a big building to house a lot of "nothing" to me.

Maybe the mystery is what intrigues us?

just bob wrote:Is this the same building? We've seen pictures on here before but I can't find them now. Maybe 3 -4 years ago?

http://www.s-denterprises.com/

I have bought many display cases from this website but that's the first time I've noticed the reference to Winchester and Primble at the bottom of the page.

They are both owned by the same dude. "Made" @ their factory.
Even more intriguing story

There are a couple of their knives on eBay at this time. Search Case mini copperhead. There is a photo of the knife and box - the box says "Knife and Box produced by Blue Grass Cutlery, Inc. Under License from Case & Sons Cutlery." My guess they were made by Queen.

It is the "produced by" that leads many to think "made by" or "manufactured by". What it actually means is "ordered by", i.e. Blue Grass Cutlery orders a run of knives from a knife manufacturer.
We can figure this out but to a novice in the knife world it sounds like BGC makes knives.
kj

Thought I would mention something I saw on my satellite channels the other day. On the “Cutlery Corner” knife show they had some Winchester’s on there for sale. The host on the show said that these knives are being made in the Ohio plant and being made now. They had a Barlow and another one, can’t remember now what the pattern was, but they looked just like the vintage Winchester’s that Queen made.
Makes me wonder if they hired some laid off cutlers from the Queen plant when it closed? Also, this adds more to the mystery.

Roger ( peanut 740) knows what he is talking about.

I was told by someone "in the know" that Blue Grass bought machinery and a lot of other stuff at the Queen auction.

edge213 wrote:I was told by someone "in the know" that Blue Grass bought machinery and a lot of other stuff at the Queen auction.

That would coincide with some of the changes I’ve seen at Blue Grass in the past year or so. I wonder if they got any of the cutlers from Queen? They could give GEC a run for their money if they did this right.

It seems to me that we will no longer see the new Winchester knives from Blue Grass...
https://www.gerber-tools.com/Winchester-Knives.php

Vit_213 wrote:It seems to me that we will no longer see the new Winchester knives from Blue Grass...
https://www.gerber-tools.com/Winchester-Knives.php

Gerber's low-end Carolina Knife and Tool division has had the Winchester license as long as Blue Grass has. Here in the US, you will typically find them at Tractor Supply and Walmart; especially towards Christmas. They've coexisted for years. I would like to see Gerber step it up. This CK&T Winchester stuff is utter garbage. I have quite a few of their pieces--got them as Christmas gifts; and one set I bought for $5 after Christmas. Chinesium for steel, and bad worksmanship and materials.