looking for barlows

M

M Wadel

Joined
Sep 11, 2005
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801
preferably with "premium" steel like ats-34, 154cm etc. im looking for a production knife no custom. whats out there really? most of these seems to use plain carbon steel like 1095 (which i dont like in folders).
 
Queen makes some of the best pocketknives out there, but I think they only make a Barlow under their Schatt & Morgan label in 420HC.
 
ive been looking around and i found som more patterns that i like. so some traditional folder with sub 3.5 blade will do, preferably with a somewhat similar rounded handle. and preferbly with high quality ss blade.
 
Have you seen these Queen Amber Carved Stag Bone Teardrop Locking Single Blade knives?

Their D2, but they are sort of a single blade Barlow.

Q-6LACSB.JPG


THis picture is from the site of the good folks at www.soonerstateknives.com
 
Sword and Shield said:
It's 420HC at about 55RC, which will take an edge quickly, but lose it just as fast.
Click to expand...

ROTFLMAO!!! :thumbup:

S&S is right, it's 420HC, it's usable for an general EDC but does not hold an edge nearly as long as Queen's D2.

If Case would just improve their heat treat a little...... :confused:
 
are the case knives generally of lower fit and finish than for example queen? 420HC = nono for me, well it may be good for large choppers.
 
M Wadel said:
are the case knives generally of lower fit and finish than for example queen?
Click to expand...

Oh boy, you could start a war with that question! yuk yuk

I'll say this, in my personal experience, I will order a Queen knife online sight unseen, quicker than I will a Case. Case knives I prefer to buy in person where I can actually examine and handle it first, mainly do to finding a few to many Case slipjoints with side to side bladeplay lately.

Buying Queen doesn't automatically mean you'll get a better F&F, but in my experience it's more likely.

And D2 over 420HC is an easy one. :D (Case's CV is a different story, I would still take D2, but by a much narrower magin, but you have mostly expressed an interest in Stainless Steel)
 
wow 420HC at 55HRC ... that's like butter soft.

The only 420HC knives I like are Bucks... they run it at 58-60HRC
and it makes a BIG difference.

I just ordered a S&M Railsplitter I'll have to run some tests of the
420HC of buck versus Queens/S&Ms.

I really don't mind 420HC if done well. Sure in the long run
a higher end steel like ATS-34 or BG-42 will out cut it but
that's a really long run. :-)

Also, with Case's CV... I know a lot of people are big fans
but mine chipped while cutting wood. Not like micro chipping but like
like 3mm. very visible. This has also happened to my Queen in 1095.

Not sure exactly why could be a fluke or burned it a bit
while putting the edge on. I plan on re-profiling both and re-testing.

I do like my Queen in D2 though. For the price it's hard to
beat my Queen 3 1/4" stockman. Small but will hang with the
big boys.
 
Overall I find the fit and finish higher on Case than Queen but not by much. Funny you mention side to side play. Queen is well known for sloppy side to side play on their newer knives. Case is far from perfect but I think Case has higher overall quality than Queen knives assuming they are similar in price.
 
I would respectfully disagree, especially of late. (imho, ymmv etc)
 
I've had good and bad in both Case and Queen. I've been very fortunate with Cases I've bought online on ebay. These have generally come from dealers I've come to trust. In another post you'll here me talk up my two EDC Case Trappers, both in Tru-Sharp. 2006 seems to have been a good vintage for Case.

I've come to expect Queen D2 blades to be a bit thick. Queens, IMHO, seems to be a little more rounded and trim than a similar knife in a Case.

Regarding handle materials, both of the above mentioned Cases (trapper and mini-trapper) are in bone. The trapper is jigged, Ky Bluegrass, bone and the mini-trapper is smooth bone, Chestnut. I've dropped them, they get carried in my pocket with coins and my cell phone, and both have help up well and still look great.
 
thanks for your input guys. the bolsters of these knives seem to be nickel silver, can this be fileworked? or is it just some nickel silver plated brass?

has anyone done business with soonerstate knives? would you recommend this company?
 
Sooner State is one of the best there is. I'd trust those folks with my money any day.

N/S is true nickel silver on every American knife I've ever seen. On Chinese, it can be plated potmetal, but US ones can easily be fileworked.
 
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