AG Russell Airweight Fruit Knife made by Queen

[Carboniferous]

I think this is a pretty interesting knife, it has a quite unexpected combination of features/design elements. Got it on an auction site in relatively unknown condition (listing stated "carbon spots" on blade, pictures weren't totally clear, hopefully not pitted but it was an impulse buy on a knife I missed out on over 10 years ago, seller states otherwise unused and unsharpened) for about half of what the knife retailed for back in the day. I remember seeing it and considering buying it but I never got a chance before it got discontinued.

The general shape is of a coke bottle jack, but given that it nears 5" closed I think it would be a swell-center hunter...except for the blade. The blade is a long *spey* blade, completely at odds with the clip or less common spear blades found on those manufactured in the 19th and 20th centuries. It otherwise fits the archetype nicely at around 5" closed and with a main blade just over 4" long, in this case of ATS-34 at 60HRC. AG Russell made the knife at the behest of citrus farmers in Texas and California and I think it was an interesting choice to forego what I would first think of, a melon tester pattern (already referred to as a citrus knife and commonly employed by citrus farmers). Melon testers are slim jacks about 5" closed, also commonly called "sausage knives" or "citrus knives." It again fits the size and function, but spey blades aren't any more common on melon testers! I'm not usually a fan of spey blades but in this case I actually think it fits the overall look of the knife nicely. The blade steel is fine quality even by today's standards and strikes me as a great choice given the knife's price and release date.

The shadow covers in this case are black rucarta (AG Russell's proprietary equivalent of micarta); the knife was originally introduced in AG's signature Coral Rucarta in 2000 and began offering Black Rucarta in 2001. The Coral Rucarta was only available intermittently during the knife's production, and red G10 was offered in 2012 and 2013. With no bolsters and polymer covers the weight of the knife was only 2 oz. The knife retailed at $60 for its entire production, equivalent to $100 today when adjusted for 2003 and $85 when adjusted for 2013.

I will update with pictures when the knife arrives, hopefully the bit of research I did while killing time waiting is interesting to others.

Anyone have examples of spey blades on coke bottles or melon testers? Or a shadow swell-center jack? I think the knife has a pretty interesting combination of design elements, made with good materials, for a good price. What would you call this variation of the pattern? I kind of feel like calling it a swell-center citrus hunter.

Here's some historical context from Levine:

And a thread:

Thread 'The Quintessential Coke Bottle Thread (The Patterns, The History, The Experiences)'

Aug 17, 2020

***EDIT***
"Formerly known as A Month With an Allegheny (GEC #97) in my Pocket"
​

I have decided to turn this thread into an "All about Coke Bottles" thread - a topic that encompasses the quintessential Coke Bottle frame and its history, providing a place for enthusiasts to come together and share their experiences and knowledge.

If you are just now tuning into this thread, it is good to note that this began as an experiment - an exercise of sorts where I wanted to experience the pattern as interpreted by GEC in an EDC capacity. Below this, you will find my...

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[Carboniferous]

Found one other example of a swell-center hunter with a spey blade, the Queen #62. First produced in 1958, this is from the 1959 catalog:

It was also one of the patterns produced after SMKW acquired the brand and started making them in China, now discontinued as far as I know.

 

[Carboniferous]

Bought one of the Chinese Queens and also figured I'd save myself the hassle and let a local guy sharpen the AG Russell, but he ended up taking off a big part of the belly and it now looks a bit goofy...still 4" of edge and it's otherwise sharp, but I'm now on the look out for a second one in better condition lol (this one had pitting polished partially out as well).

It weighs under 2oz, within 0.05oz of my Schrade 832. Thin but not too thin, light enough not to notice if you toss it in a cargo pocket or back pocket. Spring nicely flush open and closed and pretty smooth action, maybe 5.5 pull (again some corrosion on the sides of the springs that I figure won't get smoothed out as quickly as a knife with brass liners), solid snap, blade reasonably thin behind the edge. No major blade play or anything, but given the leverage of a 4" blade and the shadow construction I also haven't really tried with much of any pressure. Not a heavy duty knife, perfect for slicing up citrus.

The Queen's blade is a bit thicker and shorter, EZ open is always nice, blade had a bit more play than I'd like so I peened it a little bit and now it's great. Edge is whacky (one side a bit under 15 degrees, the other probably...30?) but I matched it as well as I could and touched it up, it's serviceable. Not finished quite as nicely but still a pretty cool knife, and it's at least a nice little self-contained pair (unless someone knows of another swell-center hunter with a spey around 5" closed). Handles are almost exactly the same length, the Queen is tapered to a slightly smaller minimum dimension at the pivot (just enough to notice), blades aren't massively different but the Queen is thicker at the spine and narrower from the spine to the edge, as a result it's noticeably thicker behind the edge, but I guess it's authentic to the old American Queen knives (near the end) in that you have to put your own edge on it.

These are basically the only knives I own with blades over 3" long, I think they're slightly goofy but in-hand they're actually pretty cool, especially the AG Russell. Would love to try out one of the original US-made Queens but they're a bit too much for a novelty purchase right now

Edit: Found another with black rucarta without the pitting and reverse tanto lol, will replace this picture when it shows up

 

[Carboniferous]

Very happy to receive this one, seems to be in mint condition from 2001. With this to compare to it's much more obvious how much the first one I received was buffed (including the handle), this one is much crisper all around. Stiffer blade pull and not perfectly glassy smooth, but I prefer that to the lighter and slightly smoother pull on the one from 2005. Both are quite nice for food prep, though, my new favorite for that task. Still has the factory edge, but it barely shaves hair and I'm not planning on using it so I'm not going to resharpen this one immediately.

I also looked into the Queen #62/62EO and I'm even more confident at this point that AG patterned the airweight fruit knife on the Queen. Queen's model 62 was just called the "Easy Opener" when it was introduced in 1958, then they called the pattern the "Melon Tester" in 1980 before ceasing production for nearly 10 years. In 1989 it was reintroduced with the model number updated to 62EO and with the pattern being called the "Easy Open Citrus/Melon Knife" until it was finally renamed the "Easy Opener Citrus Knife" from 1991 to 2000 after which it appears to have left production (until the Chinese models).

 

[Carboniferous]

I saw some forums posts from 2006 mentioning that Queen did make these for AG Russell, I figured if anyone would know it would be Bill Howard so I sent an email to GEC and they confirmed that Queen made these for AG. Pretty cool, makes me like the knife even more!