Blue Grass Cutlery "Winchester" Knives

[kootenay joe]

On the back cover of Knife Magazine, Dec. 2018 issue, is a full page ad by Blue Grass Cutlery showing their stag handled "Winchester" knives. There are 8 different patterns and all look Great.
Are these Queen made knives from before Queen closure ? If not, then which company did manufacture them ?
Do you know who is making the Blue Grass Cutlery knives now ?
thanks, kj

[Sanders Knives]

They are made in Manchester, Ohio in the Blue Grass Cutlery manufacturing plant.

[kootenay joe]

I have read many times posts by knowledgeable people (e.g. BRL) that BGC has never made any knives, that their facility is for storage & shipping of knives they have ordered.
The BGC website has always used manipulate language to imply they make knives but has not clearly stated this as fact. Now all their website says is "Quality knives made in U.S.A."
Did a change to becoming a cutlery manufacturer occur recently ?
kj

[Gunsil]

I agree with KJ, I don't think Blue Grass ever manufactured a knife. I do know that they had some made by Queen but do not know where they get them from now.

[just bob]

viewtopic.php?t=34499

[Robo]

On the back cover of Knife Magazine, Dec. 2018 issue, is a full page ad by Blue Grass Cutlery showing their stag handled "Winchester" knives. There are 8 different patterns and all look Great.
Are these Queen made knives from before Queen closure ? If not, then which company did manufacture them ?
Do you know who is making the Blue Grass Cutlery knives now ?
thanks, kj

Has anyone thought to ask Winchester Arms Co. about who they licenced their trademark to? The other scuttlebutt I've heard is that even before they bailed out on cutlery and wholesale hardware back prior to WWII they were fielding out production to Camillus. If that's the case why even call the newer ones reproductions? They're just contract knives...

Go to worthpoint and search "Winchester pocket knives" If you think your heads are spinning now! Ha Ha! 159 pages containing 100 knives per page!

[robbobus]

The huge variety of Winchester knives makes purchasing them a fun, if not consuming pastime. I've a fairly extensive collection of '87-93 Winchester by Blue Grass knives. In that era, the bone, stag, pearl and cell were made by Queen (Bill Howard at the helms then). I generally find the quality near or equal to GEC. Very good stag on the patterns they lad in stag. The celluloid is unstable and will gas out, Ebay is full of those examples. The metal handled patterns I believe were Utica. A careful collector with patience can find the bone handled models pretty easily under $50, with a few exceptions, pearl $70-100 and stag $50-110. I have about 4 to go in the stag and pearl and I will be satiated.

[Mumbleypeg]

Unless something has changed recently the Winchester trademark and name are owned by the Olin Corporation. Olin formerly was manufacturer of Winchester firearms but the factory was sold to the employees, as the U.S. Repeating Arms Corporation. Olin retained the ownership of the Winchester name, which is leased to U.S. Repeating Arms. Olin still manufactures Winchester brand ammunition.

Blue Grass Cutlery uses the Winchester brand name under license from Olin - read the fine print on their ad on the back of your Knife Magazine.

Ken

[kootenay joe]

Ken, the fine print states who owns the trademark name. I want to know which manufacturer is making the stag handled 'Winchester' knives shown in the ad.
It is odd that here we are, a bunch of guys who collectively know quite quite a bit about knives, especially USA made ones, yet no one seems to know who is currently making knives for Blue Grass Cutlery.
kj

[kootenay joe]

Bob, your link is to a 3 page thread from 2012-13 that asks the same question: who makes knives for Blue Grass Cutlery. The main answer in that thread is "Queen". But now Queen is no longer in business and the factory is closed. So, who is making them now is still an unanswered question.
kj

[robbobus]

Ate they new production Roland? Or unsold stock? I think quite possibly the latter. I was just on their website and the listings I perused do not show the quality of the late 80s, early 90s knives of which I am so fond.

[kootenay joe]

They could be knives made by Queen before they closed. Or they could be more recently made by some other manufacturer.
I do not recognize all 8 as being Queen patterns. Does BGC own the dies for these patterns and lend them out to the manufacturer ? This is the case with Moore Maker.
kj

[robbobus]

I have read before that the patterns (of the black box Winchesters 87-93) were the original stamps. Made some sense, never seen the banana knockback, coffin Jack, teardrop Jack, fancy congresses etc since then. A few Primble marked knives show up from time to time but I think Blue Grass had their rights as well.

This '91 1/2 stag Congress holds its own with any pen knife I own.

[Mumbleypeg]

As is often the case we seem to be rehashing old topics. See this from less than a month ago. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=62295&hilit=Manchester

Ken

[kootenay joe]

Yes i remember the thread. Good discussion but no facts as to who in general is making knives for them.
I started this thread to ask just about the 8 stag 'Winchester' knives shown in the ad. Queen did make stag handled knives for BGC in the past.
But what about these knives ?
The 3 3/4" 5 blade Sowbelly i know is a Queen pattern. But what about the 4 1/2" Serpentine Stockman ? and 4 1/4" Reverse Gunstock Stockman ? Are these Queen patterns ?
They are good looking knives. But, is the fit good, blade action & spring tension good ? Thin grinds, sharp edges ?
Retail is at least $150 to buy one to find out.
kj

[Beavertail]

I believe the knives on their website are not new,but leftover stock.
These knives were made by queen.I don't think bluegrass is having any new knives made for them now.

[kootenay joe]

Thanks BT. That is what i was trying to find out,
Blue Grass Cutlery is in a difficult position with Queen out of business. Both Bear & Utica make good knives but not as 'special' as BGC wants. GEC is too busy to take on a large contract.
Maybe BGC will hire out of work cutlers (CSC, Queen, Schrade, Camillus) and become a manufacturer of their own knives. Then USA would have 2 manufacturers of top quality Traditional pattern folding knives.
kj

[peanut740]

At the Blade Show,Blue Grass had newly made John Primble trappers for sale.Tim Scott said they were completely made in Manchester Ohio. They are way more capable of building knives than Canal Street.In some ways,they were more capable than Queen.They have original Rogers bone jigging machines and they dye their own bone.They made the bone for my first 2 Maher & Grosh runs.

[kootenay joe]

Good for BGC ! There is room for another USA manufacturer of top quality traditional style folding knives. GEC is swamped by demand and nearly every run of knives is soon sold out. If BGC can match the GEC consistent quality, i am sure they too will be in much demand.
kj

[knifeaholic]

Maybe one way to answer this is, for those who are collectors of the modern USA made Winchester knives, what is the most recent manufacture date that you have seen stamped on a Winchester reproduction knife? My experience is that they all have a year stamp.

If Winchester knives are observed with years stamped after Queen's closure, that would mean that someone else is indeed making them.

I would also point out that upon Queen's closure, most of us collectors believed that we are left with only five manufacturers of traditional slip joints in the US:

Case
Bear
Buck
GEC
Utica

If you add the recent rebirth of Canal Street, that would be six.

Given the small number if US manufacturers, one would think that Bluegrass (now being number 7) would advertise their manufacturing capabilities more broadly, instead of (seemingly) keeping it such a secret.

[peanut740]

Maybe one way to answer this is, for those who are collectors of the modern USA made Winchester knives, what is the most recent manufacture date that you have seen stamped on a Winchester reproduction knife? My experience is that they all have a year stamp.

If Winchester knives are observed with years stamped after Queen's closure, that would mean that someone else is indeed making them.

I would also point out that upon Queen's closure, most of us collectors believed that we are left with only five manufacturers of traditional slip joints in the US:

Case
Bear
Buck
GEC
Utica

If you add the recent rebirth of Canal Street, that would be six.

Given the small number if US manufacturers, one would think that Bluegrass (now being number 7) would advertise their manufacturing capabilities more broadly, instead of (seemingly) keeping it such a secret.

If you knew Tim Scott and his dad David before him,their middle name is secret.

[knifeaholic]

Maybe one way to answer this is, for those who are collectors of the modern USA made Winchester knives, what is the most recent manufacture date that you have seen stamped on a Winchester reproduction knife? My experience is that they all have a year stamp.

If Winchester knives are observed with years stamped after Queen's closure, that would mean that someone else is indeed making them.

I would also point out that upon Queen's closure, most of us collectors believed that we are left with only five manufacturers of traditional slip joints in the US:

Case
Bear
Buck
GEC
Utica

If you add the recent rebirth of Canal Street, that would be six.

Given the small number if US manufacturers, one would think that Bluegrass (now being number 7) would advertise their manufacturing capabilities more broadly, instead of (seemingly) keeping it such a secret.

If you knew Tim Scott and his dad David before him,their middle name is secret.

Interesting!!!

[knifeaholic]

This stuff gets to be a bit confusing, determining where a knife is made.

Bluegrass Cutlery owns all of the Belknap Hardware trademarks - including Bluegrass and John Primble.

From ebay here is one John Primble trapper, selling at a fixed price of $14.99

Note the Manchester Ohio USA tang stamp.

[knifeaholic]

Here also from Ebay is another John Primble trapper, stated by the seller to be made in USA.

Note that it has the exact same tang stamp as the trapper that I just posted.

Fixed price on this one is $71.68.

I'm guessing based on the $$ that this one is actually USA made...but why do both have the same tang stamp?

[edge213]

The first one Steve posted has a "Chinese look" to it. The second one looks USA.
The only reason to keep a secret is to hide something. I would think if they were actually producing quality cutlery in their own factory they would be proud of that fact and everyone would know.