Knife of the week01-27...Barlow

D

db

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Oct 3, 1998
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I personally don't know much about the Barlow.So, lets here it. :) I love these knife of the week threads.And since know one has started this weeks here it is :)
 
I would like to have a Barlow with a razor blade. Can't wait to see this one develop. These are great threads.
 
Come on guys, lets see and hear about this great pattern, it´s tuesday already, someboby has to have something !!!

The following comments are just what I´ve heard or read somewhere but no serious research, so I may be wrong in many things.

I have heard the Barlow is originally from England, mid 18th century, a cheaply made jack knife with a large bolster for strength, many were exported to the U.S. I´ve seen a picture on the Web of one that apparently belonged to George Washington.

The Barlow was very popular in the U.S. until the end of the 19th century when the stockman took over, the older ones often had a single spear blade, later a single clip, there were also two bladed Barlows with spear/pen, clip/pen or razor/pen.

They are common today in two versions, a large one bladed known as "grandad" (about 5") and a small two bladed clip/pen combination (about 3.5").

I have two Barlows, a nice one bladed Boker with wood scales and nickel silver bolsters, and a cheap two bladed Irish made with sheet steel bolsters and simple plastic scales, they both have good carbon blades.
 
I don't know about the history of the barlow, but have been wanting to make one for some time, just havn't gotten around to it. But it's interesting that you guys are talking about them, just this past week I had a guy order one from me, the only thing different is that he wants small bolsters on the back end as well as the big ones that are traditional on the blade end. He wants it's 3-1/4" closed, with the master blade being a clip blade & the smaller one being a pen blade & with micarta scales. Talk to yall later,

Dwayne Dushane
www.lx.net/dushane
 
I really do not know anything about Barlows. I recently read they were called Barlows after a noted early maker. An old pattern that goes back at least to the 18 century. Originating in England??
 
Well we have been pretty quiet so I will toss in what I have read.
My sources are a beat up Vol 3 of Levine's Guide, Best if Knife World vols 1 2 and 3 (Mark Zalesky located a copy of the rare vol 1 for me 4 or 5 years ago.) and articles read over the years. I have also read a couple of Sheffield books that touched on the subject. Goins was also a little help. Once Bernard's book pointed me there.

Guys, Levine's guide is a must for any knife-nut and IMHO Knife World now edited by Mark is also a must. (The prices for both are a fantastic deal if you have the time to read them.)

Ok mixing it up from those sources and a thought or two that might even be my own: :D

We have a Cutler family in Sheffield during the 16 and 17 hundreds. The name (you guessed by now) is Barlow. According to Levine's Guide the first of the family to obtain noteriety was Edward Barlow. He was elected master of the Cutler's Guild in 1653 according to the same source. Goins says that Obediah Barlow was the first Barlow that made a name of themselves via the barlow knife. He set up business in 1667. I am going with Bernards 1653 date and Edward on that one. :).

Obediah's family kept things going cutlery wise for several generations until 1789 when geat grandson John Jr. (the last of the line) passed away.

There is another branch of the family that Bernard mentions "Samuel Barlow". He was from Neepsend which is near Sheffield. In 1787 the knives of Samuel were trademarked with a sideways "Z". (sorry I do not know the ascii code for that.) Samuel made knives into the 1830's and added the family name "Barlow" to his stamp in 1878.

In talking a little with my dad who is 77 (still running his small business and going to work every day and quite guillty of passing this hobby on to me. :)) my understanding is that when he was a kid and the topic of knives came up, Barlows were usually the center of the conversation. He says they were a very popular pattern for folks of all ages during the 20's and 30's. Maybe even one of the most popular patterns.

I am guessing that since that was the period of the Great Depression that quite a few inexpensive varieties were available. Makes sense to me that since they only have a bolster at one end it would follow that the Barlow pattern could be cheaply manufactured so that they could be affordable in those tough times. (I am not sure if one of my readings planted this thought or if I made it up so take it for what it is worth - a plug nickel or therabouts, but at least it makes some sense.)

The pattern is characterized by a blade or blades pivoting from one long bolstered end and yes there are some that can be found with a razor master blade (the kind with the finger notch cut out of the tip of the blade). If a second blade is present it is usually a pen. Other master shapes (Spey, Clip, Sheepsfoot or Spear) are also found on some examples.

That about taps me out, but I am sure others will chime in with time on what they know and have read.
 
Dwayne,
Great to have your company in this corner of BF. Hope you get the chance to drop in occasionally.

Gus
 
mckgreg that is one beautiful Cripple Creek you have there.

As a long time fan of jack knives, the Barlow is one of my favorite patterns. I have quite a few, most are 1st generation Bulldogs. The one thing I don't like is alot of them have the pulls on different sides and that has always bugged me on a two bladed knife.
 
Great looking knives.
Here is another example with the razor blade. Not as nice looking as the previous two.
 
Greg, that blood brother is one beautiful knife. I have only owned one barlow and I wore it out. I carried it for over a year after one of the handles fell off. I could get it sharper than any knife I ever had. I don't even remember the brand. I don't know why the barlow is not more produced and used. We talk of a gents knife, well to me this would be a sweet gents pocket knife. What use would the razor blade have other than the obvious?



Thanks Dean
 
The Razor is also termed the "one armed mans" knife. The blade is shaped so that you can open the knife with one hand using the edge of your belt or a similar object.
Greg
 
Did you guys read about the Louisville Barlow Bobcats? They were a knife club in the early 50's that required members to own an original Russell Barlow. Russell quit making the Barlow pattern in the 30's so gettin' an original took some effort. The company, Russell, would restore the old knives for about a buck. Be nice to have one of those!
Greg
 
Gus, Good to hear from you, I'll try to get better about getting into the discussions in here. It seem's most of the time you guys cover everything that needs to be said, & also I just don't want to show my ignorance in most of the topics :D Talk to you later, Dwayne
 
I saw somewhere that the one-armed barlow was developed after the War Between the States. if you were wounded in the arm, most likely you lost it. The barlow razor enabled these guys to shave themselves.
 
Wish I had a Razor Barlow to post but I don't. Gonna have to work on that. Here instead is a single blade with a bolster release. Some folks call it a sidelock also.
 
The Barlow knife is mentioned in the following verse of the beautiful old folk song "Shady Grove":

When I was a little boy I wanted a Barlow knife
Now I want little Shady Grove to say she'll be my wife
 
I don't have much to add to the Barlow story, but I do believe that Mark Twain mentioned that either Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn had a Barlow knife.

Here's mine.

6431007.jpg
 
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