Found my Dad's old barlow today *updated pics*

jujigatame

jujigatame

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Mar 21, 2005
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My Dad passed away eight years ago this month, the 11th to be exact, so he's been on my mind more than might normally be the case. I was rearranging some old boxes of whatnot and I heard something rattling around the bottom of one of them. Reached in and my fingers hit something hard and metal. What can that be, I wondered. Pulled it out and it was my Dad's barlow knife.

I was surprised to say the least since I'd always thought this had been lost in the months after he died when we went through his things. I had looked and looked for it but never found it and eventually ran out of places to search. This is the knife I always remembered him having when I was a kid in the 80s and I imagine that's largely responsible for the fondness I have for barlows to this day. Not sure when he originally got it, could've been before I was born.

It is pretty rusty on the springs and liners. The scales are badly faded. One of the bolsters is very loose and probably not far from falling off. The main blade is in good shape and opened easily. The pen blade was really covered with rust and took an assist from a flathead screwdriver to open.



I took some steel wool to it and got off a good bit of the surface rust to be able to make out the marks on the blades. The main blade says Sabre USA and the pen blade says Patent 3,317,996.



Gonna see what else I can do to clean it up and then put it in a safe place. An unexpected but pleasant reminder of Dad near the anniversary of his passing.


-- Nate
 
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wow, nice find jujigatame, that sure is a pleasant surprise. bring back those memories eh? :thumbup:
may he rest in peace.

Falah
 
[QUOTE=jujigatameago I was rearranging some old boxes of whatnot and I heard something rattling around the bottom of one of them. Reached in and my fingers hit something hard and metal. What can that be, I wondered. Pulled it out and it was my Dad's barlow knife. I was surprised to say the least since I'd always thought this had been lost in the months after he died when we went through his things. I had looked and looked for it but never found it and eventually ran out of places to search. An unexpected but pleasant reminder of Dad near the anniversary of his passing.


jujigatameago, makes one wonder if this really is such a "coincedence" that you found one of your dad's keepsakes so easily & so close to his anniversary after searching the way you said you did. Keep it close & remember all the good memories it brings back to you . . . :)
Be safe.
 
Great find! not a bad looking knife either all things considered, should fix up pretty nicely.
 
Good on you, Nate. Glad you found it. I can only imagine how that makes you feel.

I grabbed one of my Grandfather's old smoking pipes when he passed away. Haven't been able to find it for several years. My fault for missplacing it but I would fire up a bowl (of tobacco) in celebration if I ever found it.
 
That's awesome that you found it. I'm thinking your Dad helped guide your hand. Enjoy it and treasure it.
 
jujigatame, my uncle also passed away 8 years ago. While we were cleaning out his apartment, I found this knife in his kitchen drawer:

Colonial2.jpg


Colonial4.jpg


Colonial3.jpg


This knife originally had "NEW HOLLAND" printed on the side (my uncle was a farmer) but that has worn off. The only difference I can see is that yours has sawcut grooves on the scales and mine is smooth. So I believe your father's knife was made by Colonial.

See also this thread, with information about the patent:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771120&highlight=new+holland

Enjoy the good memories.
 
Not knife related--But I have my dad's knife in my night stand drawer. I was going thru some old boxes the other day and found my dad's old billfold, and I nearly lost it. My dad has been gone for over 41 years. It's kinda funny how those things mean so much. Sorry to disrupt your thread. Keep those thoughts current, they were all good, even the bad ones at the time.
Harold
 
Nate...that is one awesome find...I'd rather find that than a cool grand - if that was my Dads knife...I mean that.
By the looks, it will clean nicely, as in with carefull mineral oil work etc..and one of our great forum members here will have the knowledge to fix that Bolster.
If you are going to use steel wool..use the 0000 grade-as that isnt aggresive to metal-but is to rust, could you keep us up with the info of this knife please? - if you are going to get 'er up and running again?...be nice to see that! :thumbup:
 
Nate, that Barlow is priceless. I found my father's (who died when I was 2) pocket knife beneath laundry machine. Needless to say it was nothing but plastic handles on pile of rust. I was 12 or so... I threw it away. I still regret it when I am nearing 30 now.

That is nice looking barlow. Oiling and cleaning rust takes bit effort and time but I think its well worthy. Depending how much you want to spend, there are people who can fix that bolster for you too. I personally would clean it from rust as best I can, oil it up and put on shelf, where I could see it every day.
 
Hi,

What a wonderful thing to find! I know how it feels. I found my Grandfather's two pocket knives 30 years after he passed away. Like you, I found them tucked way back in a corner in a small box. In a desk that I sat at for many years myself.

Such things are priceless!

Dale
 
Wonderful find! I have always wondered what happened to my Dad's Schrade but still don't know and its never been found.
 
The posted Barlow was made by Colonial Knife Co of Providence RI for Cole National Corp of Cleveland Ohio, owners of the SABRE trademark. SABRE knives were most commonly imported from Germany, Japan (and later China) but were also made in the USA by Colonial and also by Ulster. I recall buying one of those myself in the mid 1980's.

Colonial is still in business in Warwick, RI and they might even repair an refurbish that knife for you.
 
I appreciate the responses guys, especially regarding the origins of the knife. Got a good bit more of the rust off today. Main blade is still in decent shape all things considered, probably going to put it on a stone tomorrow and see where the edge is at. Pen blade has some deep pitting and will require more effort. I found while using steel wool on the spine that it took off the top layer of the faded delrin too and got to some of the deeper color underneath. I'll put up some more pics when I get the chance.

Cheers.

-- Nate
 
This is really cool...

My dad passed away over 9 years ago, and he left me behind several knives as keepsakes...

A while back when I was mountain biking in Peninsula State Park in Door County, WI, where he is buried, I came across a tree that he had carved his initials into. It was like 7 years after he had passed before I found it. Stuff like that really makes you think...

Glad you found it, and hang on to it!
 
Got some new pictures of my Dad’s Barlow knife that I found 10 days ago.



Taking things slowly one bit at a time to work on the edges, clean out the nooks, and get action more smooth. It doesn’t even seem like the same knife when I compare it to the shots I had taken originally.

The fine steel wool has done well to work off the surface layer of the delrin but it's hard to get all the way in those little sawcut grooves with something that pliable unless using a fair bit of pressure. I was thinking of using a felt wheel on a Dremel tool at low speed and with no compound. Does that sound feasible? Anyone have another idea for getting in those grooves?


-- Nate
 
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