Queen Steel #22 Barlow Just Arrived

Modoc ED

Modoc ED

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Mar 28, 2010
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I first spotted this Queen Steel #22 Barlow on a dealers site this past June. I collect Barlows and already have a couple of these so I didn't buy it thinking someone else wanting a uniqely built knife would buy it. However, while checking out dealer's sites Christmas Night, I saw that the knife was still available so I bought it.

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 knife has been well used but not abused. There are a couple of minor nicks in both blades but those can easily be removed with about 30-minutes work on a stone. The handle appears to be rough-cut delrin. The frame/casing is made of Aluminum.

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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.
 
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Pretty darn Cool. Never seen one built like that.

Congrats on the acquisition!
 
I was hoping that posting this particular knife with it's odd construction would generate a discussion on older traditional knives that may be constructed as my Barlow is. Hell, I know it's not a pretty knife and if anyone thinks it is ugly that's ok. Don't be afraid to say so. It won't hurt my feelings. I simply collect these #22s for what they are -- an oddly constructed knife. The fact that they are Barlows is a plus for me.

This is the drawing page from the patent. I finally figured out how to capture the picture from a pdf. file and convert it to a jpg. file. You can see in Figure 5 how the spring is inserted in the slot at the back of the knife as I mentioned in my OP.

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Anybody else got a Queen Steel #22 they can post pictures of or discuss. All #22 pictures are welcomed in this thread.
 
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I take it that there is no center liner between the blades? Would answer why the tang of the main blade appears to have such wear on it.
 
That is correct. The wear is not as bad as indicated in the picture. There is a bit of grease/dirt there. I was more interested in getting the etching Queen Steel #22 to show up than posting a high quality picture.
 
bought a coupal of these in 80s from a customer. they were marked with a companys name & mint. i never liked barlows but have to admit these were super lightweight for the package. i just ca'nt accept aluminum frames.
dennis
 
It took me about 3 read throughs to get it. There is no need for a center spring pin. Was this perhaps a way to speed up production and lessen the cost of producing? I know that it is common for scale materials to fail at the center pin since it is so close to the edge. I wonder if they were looking for a way to eliminate the spring pin.
 
You pretty much hit the nail on the head Chris. Here is a direct quote from "U. S. Patent 2728139".

"This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural improvements in pocket knives, and the principle object of the invention is to provide a pocket knife of the character herein described, which is extremely simple in construction and which may be quickly, easily, and economically manufactured from the standpoint of a small number of parts and expeditious assembly.
 
chouse said:
The Remington R100 of the 1925-1935 era had similar construction.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see one of those. I'm going to start keeping my eyes open for one -- do a little searching, etc..

It doesn't surprise me that Remington had a knife similar to the Queen #22 out as early as 1925-1935 as the patent I have been referencing is to provide useful and structural improvements to earlier, similar, knives. Issac E. Hotchkiss had a patent approved on July 28, 1914 for a similar knife and is footnoted in U. S. Patent 2728139.
 
Queen made all of their barlows that way (as well as the "Big Chief" knives that are still in production), starting in the late 1950's. Cast aluminum frame and bolsters as one piece.

The Remington R100A was actually somewhat different though similar in principal. The R100A had the four bolsters and the liner stamped and formed out of one piece of nickel silver then the nickel silver sheet with a bolster in each corner was folded over and the knife was assembled inside of it including the two separate steel backsprings that were of the conventional type.
 
I just bought the same knife but with only the pat no stamp- if there was a blade etch it's gone. So it's a 50s or 60s Queen.
I couldn't find the no until I searched the forums here. There's a BRL answer which suggests Frary Cutlery had a pretty identical patent some decades earlier.
It's nice to see a Barlow with extra strong bolsters, rather than all those Imperial clip-on sheet bolsters.
 
My grandfather gave me the Queen #25 Razor Barlow long ago. It is very light-weight and the construction is nice and tight. Pat. # 2728139
I knew is was old and that the hidden springs were unique, but I didnt know it was rare because I have seen them for sale a few times for around $60 in new/old stock.
It's definitely a great user.
 
I´ve missed this thread ... on that time I was not that active here... however - it´s a great looking knife, you have there, Ed. I really like the idea of this construction. That drawing is a nice explanation on this unique knife! :)

Thanks for sharing this great knife!
 
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