Queen made Barlows

btmccutcheon

btmccutcheon

Joined
Jul 10, 2013
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I know there is already a couple of Barlow threads out there already, but I'm looking for specific information regarding Queen made Barlows. So I'm hoping the mods won't bury this one.

Yesterday, I acquired what appears to be an old Queen made Blue Grass Barlow with Belknap Hardware stamped on the tang. I say older Queen because of the pin positions and the old asymmetrical (I call it "copperhead") bolster. So that got me to wondering when they used this old bolster and when they switched over to the newer symmetrical bolsters. Additionally, I know Queen has made knives for several other brands, but I'm not sure what brands or when.

So I'm hoping some of you fine folks can enlighten me a little more, and maybe post a few Queen made Barlows of your own.

I've got some cleanup to do on this Blue Grass before I can get decent pics of it, so I'd appreciate your patience.
 
Here's a pic of a "Drake Well" Queen. Made in 1972. I don't know when they switched over to the standard pattern but I'll check into it.





 
I just checked through Queen's online historical catalogs and it looks like the "copperhead" Barlow last appears prior to their 2004 catalog. The pattern numbers used were 22, 23, 25 and 27. There might be a few others numbers for some of their single blade patterns.
 
Queen's #69 pattern served as their Barlow in past recent years. It did not have the typical long bolster. Recently, Queen has produced typical long bolster Barlows as part of their S&M line.


The 69 pattern......
s113643054115633673_p48_i2_w1280.jpg


Some more older barlows......
Queen alum barlows.jpg


BTW.....The 69 pattern is one of my favorites, especially in ACSB. To all.....if you don't own one you're missing out on an excellent knife. Get one while you still can. Queen is no longer producing the 69 like the one above.
 
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I picked up a newer production Robeson barlow made by Queen just the other day. It's a real nice one. I'll have to take a pic and post it here. It's the newer style with symmetrical bolsters. Made around 2011 from what I can find. The F&F is great, beautiful saw cut bone, pen blade on the pile side, the only downside is I think it has 420HC steel. I'd have preferred 1095 or even D2.
 
Hey Philllll,
I also bought a Robeson the other day. Here's a pic......

s-l1600.jpg
 
Haha! I think we got the exact same model. Is yours smooth bone though? I can't tell. It's about the same color as mine.
 
So here is the Barlow I was talking about in my original post. I've cleaned it up a lot but it's still got issues. Secondary spring is a nail breaker while the primary spring is so weak it won't completely seat itself back into its resting place. Oiled and flexed both blades for hours to smooth out the gritty feeling in the pivot. No snap at all in the primary.
Cracks in both covers, and the pile side cover is pale whereas the mark side is a much darker tone. I'm not sure if the knife was just resting for years on its mark side in direct view of the sun or what. But, the pile side has seemed to have lost all of its dye and the pile side bolster was more pitted.





So do you think I should let one of our esteemed knife modders show it some love?
 
Just received this today, it's a Northwoods Everyday Barlow, brown sawcut bone covers, clip point blade. It's based on the Queen #69.

 
btmccutcheon said:
So here is the Barlow I was talking about in my original post. I've cleaned it up a lot but it's still got issues. Secondary spring is a nail breaker while the primary spring is so weak it won't completely seat itself back into its resting place. Oiled and flexed both blades for hours to smooth out the gritty feeling in the pivot. No snap at all in the primary.
Cracks in both covers, and the pile side cover is pale whereas the mark side is a much darker tone. I'm not sure if the knife was just resting for years on its mark side in direct view of the sun or what. But, the pile side has seemed to have lost all of its dye and the pile side bolster was more pitted.


So do you think I should let one of our esteemed knife modders show it some love?
Click to expand...

I'd leave it as is. It's really not that bad and shows a lot of character.
 
Pretty sure that bolster shape was dropped sometime late 90's, it really set them apart from other Barlows. I love the older Queen Barlows, very good solid knives.


IMG_4187_zpslgsjaml1.jpg
 
You asked for other Queen Barlow knives so here's one or you.

Queen Steel #22 Barlow

The only tang stamp is on the clip blade and that stamp is:

PAT. NO.
2728139

The only model identification is etched on the blade and that etching is:

Queen Steel #22

I believe that, with the blade etching as the only identifier as to model, the period of manufacture is 1961 - 1971. The handle is rough-cut delrin. The frame/casing is made of Aluminum.

UdS8Yyp.jpg


h1dXlcN.jpg


What makes this knife unique is the way it is built. The body of the knife is an elongated casing with the bottom and front open while the spine and rear are closed. There are slots in the closed top edge of the casing. There is no spring pin to attach the spring to the casing. Rather, the spring is inserted through the rear slot in the closed, top edge, of the casing, fitted to the blade tang in the usual manner and fitted to a shoulder on a piece attached internally to the closed, rear, end of the casing. This causes the spring to be leveraged to the solid edge (back) of the casing. That's kind of a simplistic description but you should be able to understand it by looking at the picture of the back of the knife.

Google U. S. Patent 2728139 and you can see a detailed description and drawing of this style knife.
 
...and here are my four Queens.
four_queens.jpg


The far right hand has bone scales and steel bolsters. The rest have aluminum bolsters and delrin scales.

P.S. Never noticed it before but it looks like the natural bone handled knives have four pins on the scales and the delrin handled knives only have two pins.
 
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Sure enough, Mort showed the correct Patent but it is interesting to note that the knife pictured in the Patent is not a Barlow but just a basic single blade Jack Knife as the "Pattern" of the knife wasn't patented just the method of construction. The knife pictured in the Patent was marketed by Queen in their "Big Chief" line.

Nice looking knives you have there Mort.

"btmccutcheon" - I hope I didn't take your thread off course. I just wanted to clear up what some might think is a bit confusing by me having shown the Barlow when the Patent I referenced shows a Jack Knife.

Further, I'd leave that knife you got alone. It's a nice knife and a looker to boot. It was not uncommon for some manufactures to mismatch covers on their knives in the past. Case wasn't the only one to do it.
 
I agree with the others, to leave the knife as is and use it. If it were me, I would clean it up with scotchbrite on any corrosion, give it a mineral oil bath and clean it all the way out, soak out the excess, epoxy any cracks in handle, sharpen, and put in pocket. Taking pictures in the process of course.

Connor
 
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