New "old" Barlow. Updated pics post#44

I'mSoSharp said:
Again, thanks for the comments :)



This was made for me, I fancied a Barlow so thought I'd have a go. I'm flattered by the interest & maybe in the future I'll make some to sell (& obviously subscribe to the forum before discussing it further).



Mustard on the ham sammies?
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DONE!!:D:D


Oops!! I already sold my truck!!:(
But, the sammies still stand!!:D:D
Seriously, that's a great and desirable knife!!:)
 
I'mSoSharp said:
I really wanted a Barlow so had a go at making one, first time making a knife in a particular pattern. Blade O1 at just under 3" & 7" overall, 4" closed.

The liners & bolsters are all one piece of wrought iron that I've etched to try & bring out some of the grain though it doesn't really show in the pics.

Scales are oak from a big table some friends were throwing out as it had sections of woodworm, it had been made out of a big door at least 40 years ago & still had an original wrought iron hinge on it as a feature so goodness knows how old the door was, I'm guessing the oaks is very old.
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I've tried to give it an old look, it'll probably benefit from a bit of use to get the blade scratched up :)
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Had to bring some of the pics over to this page! :thumbsup::cool:
Very impressive work, @ImSoSharp!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::cool::cool: Unique, useful blade shape!
Love the aged look; is this just like Tom Sawyer's?? :D

- GT
 
Thanks everyone :), a bit overwhelming, I thought you might like to see it but didn't think it'd be so popular. All the nice comments much appreciated.

meako said:
Did you make the blade?
I love it.
A Prince among Barlows.
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Yes, the blade is cut from 3mm O1 sheet. A 5" angle grinder, files & the world's smallest belt sander are then used to shape it before & after heat treating.

Again, thanks.
 
Great work, very nice barlow!!:thumbsup::thumbsup: I really like the blade, lot's of belly for a clip and a very nice cut swage. How did you go about cutting the integral liners and bolsters? Also, there doesn't seem to be a spring pin showing? Do you have any WIP pics?
Dan
 
Very cool knife. Cool backstory. Great craftsmanship. Looks like it's 80 years old. LOTS of belly on that blade!

It looks very familiar and yet, unique at the same time.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
danno50 said:
Great work, very nice barlow!!:thumbsup::thumbsup: I really like the blade, lot's of belly for a clip and a very nice cut swage. How did you go about cutting the integral liners and bolsters? Also, there doesn't seem to be a spring pin showing? Do you have any WIP pics?
Dan
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Well spotted, no spring pin, in fact the pins you see are just through the liners & scales.

I'll try & explain the making process, please bear with me as putting things into words is not really my strong point.......
I'm just playing at knife making, I don't spend too much time looking into how others do it I just sort of get on with it & make mistakes working it out as I go along. I start by cutting my parts out bigger than needed then shape them a little bit at a time making them fit one another rather than measuring anything precisely, all the time keeping in mind what shape I'm pushing towards. Probably not the usual way it's done but it (nearly!) works for me & I like it.

I like the biggest blade edge possible relative to the handle, that means a small or no recasso, & I like either sunken joints or extended bolsters. It is true that a sunken joint means a smaller tang in a given bolster size, but a very short recasso helps make it bigger, the taper on a Barlow style bolster lends itself to a sunken joint too & also why I used 3mm steel for the blade & grind it down so the tang still stays beefy.
I realised early on that getting a deep long blade to fit nicely was going to involve something different from the traditional through pin method, my blade would cut the back pin & hit a spring that had a pin bulge in it too far forward.

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The pic above shows the two liners/bolsters cut from old wrought bar (the same as they are sat on), both the same just one's been in ferric longer. A saw cut marks where I'm going to remove metal for the scales.


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The rough cut & shaped parts, everything in this pic eventually ended up smaller except for holes getting bigger! The finished knife has about 2mm clearance between edge & spring folded & is held together by three steel rivets at the back as well as the pivot.


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Starting to look close to how I wanted it with the liners filed down.


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Fitting up without the blade. The three steel pins at the top back pass through the spring into countersunk holes in the liners (two would have probably done it), the two pins for the scales are countersunk on the inside of the liners, problem is they had to be there before the knife was riveted up ;) A big bonus to this method is very thick wrought liners.

From the few folders I've made I've learned it's all about packaging, fitting as much in as possible, & everything is a compromise, everything you change affects everything else.

I really like how this has turned out but I always see faults....... :mad:

Any comments welcome, if you can add to any of that or disagree/don't understand what I've written please chime in, I'm always looking to learn :)
 
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Very good WIP pics, thanks. Interesting method of assembly, makes a strong knife. Seems that having the handle pins in place, before the handles, would make the job of fitting the handles to the bolsters a little more difficult. Your fit at the handle/bolster is very tight, I am sure that took a bit of work. For some one who is "just playing at knife making" you do excellent work.
One another note, I also prefer half stops.
Dan
 
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