The Barlows

First, thanks to coffeecup and Absintheur for the info...

Second - just got a new Barlow today!! Boker with red jigged bone scales and carbon steel blades.

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Bought it from an eBay seller - <$35 shipped. You can search for 'Boker Barlow' on eBay and you'll see a couple of tortoise shell models still available. I already own a tortoise shell although it hasn't made it into my EDC rotation yet. This one will be an EDC. I just sharpened it up on my Sharpmaker and the Solingen carbon steel takes a great edge.
 
Very nice looking Boker, good find.

Clip and Spear points are the most common blade styles with the One Handed Man coming in third I think and I am looking to buy a Barlow with a Sheepsfoot main blade. What other blade pattern have you seen? I did see a Wharncliffe but it was obviously a reshaped blade. Any other unusual bladed Barlows out there?
 
MG that is a nice little Barlow. I've given up on buying such things on eBay; my luck lately has been that every knife in "good condition" is broken, and the "carbon steel" blades are stainless. Your knife gives me hope though that such items are out there somewhere!

Absintheur, I've seen the following patterns of Barlows:
Factory (I'm pretty sure):
single w/ clip or spear blade
2-blade, either the one-armed man pattern or spear/clip with pen blade
2-blade with spear (large) and a flat screwdriver (not a ground-down blade, this was factory)
2-blade with clip (or spear, I can't recall) and a sawblade
2-blade spear and sheepsfoot
2-blade with clip and leather punch (one of the ones that looked like a rolled triangle of metal)

Probably modified:
2-blade with pen and what was probably a clip blade ground to a sheepsfoot
2-blade with spear and chisel-ground pen
2-blade with clip and modified pen blade (this is the Imperial I showed above; I've ground the edge of the pen blade straight)
single hawksbill blade

Archaeologically-recovered, possibly modified:
3-blade, clip, pen and (probably) sheepsfoot
single-blade with rope knife blade
2-blade clip and pen with lanyard loop

Handle materials noted:
bone (plain/jigged/filed/checkered)
horn (same)
stag
carved ivory (on a crimped Imperial, no less! This was a custom souvenir brought back from the Viet Nam war.)
various synthetics
wood (including ebony, rosewood, beech, and maybe apple)
pressed metal with embossing
In modern customs, seemingly anything goes.

Been thinking about Barlows for a while, maybe I should do something about it, eh?
 
There are single blade clip barlows out there (I'm not referring to the larger "grandfather" or "grand daddy" barlows, but the regular size). It's just a normal barlow without the pen blade. The only one that I handled and have seen was a single blade Russel with bone scales.
 
Absintheur said:
Very nice looking Boker, good find.

Clip and Spear points are the most common blade styles with the One Handed Man coming in third I think and I am looking to buy a Barlow with a Sheepsfoot main blade. What other blade pattern have you seen? I did see a Wharncliffe but it was obviously a reshaped blade. Any other unusual bladed Barlows out there?
Click to expand...

There's a sheepsfoot master bladed Barlow on post 41 here http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=475810 :)

In fact, just about every Barlow that has ever been made is in that thread. :D
 
Morablades said:
There are single blade clip barlows out there (I'm not referring to the larger "grandfather" or "grand daddy" barlows, but the regular size). It's just a normal barlow without the pen blade. The only one that I handled and have seen was a single blade Russel with bone scales.
Click to expand...


There are a couple of "Bulldog" brand single-blade Barlows like that on eBay right now (as you say, Morablades, the smaller size, not the big gdaddy). The prices are not too bad but I don't know much about Bulldog brand. Any thoughts?
 
coffeecup said:
MG that is a nice little Barlow. I've given up on buying such things on eBay; my luck lately has been that every knife in "good condition" is broken, and the "carbon steel" blades are stainless. Your knife gives me hope though that such items are out there somewhere!
Click to expand...

I don't want to get in trouble for 'dealspotting' (again) but I will say that all the Boker Tree Brand Barlows (Solingen made) seem to be carbon steel across the board. If you've had bad luck with eBay sellers, I know Knifeworks and New Graham sell 'em...
 
I have never seen one. The handle shape does not seem compatible for a Wharncliffe blade. I'm sure it can be done, but it does not seem that it would look right.
 
Looks like a swayback with a long bolster more than a true barlow, at least to my tired eyes.
 
MG_Saldivar said:
I don't want to get in trouble for 'dealspotting' (again) but I will say that all the Boker Tree Brand Barlows (Solingen made) seem to be carbon steel across the board. If you've had bad luck with eBay sellers, I know Knifeworks and New Graham sell 'em...
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind! It opens up a number of options I'd not considered, and Boker would be a definite upgrade from the Imperial I'm carrying.

I'm not sure it would be an upgrade from the edge-holding quality though. I've given this little thing a workout (general utility plus used it to skin a steer yesterday); all I had to do this morning was touch the edge up on a stone. That's a nice quality in a pocketknife!
 
KnifeHead said:
My tired eyes says that's a dang ugly knife. :D Nothing about that thing is right, ofcourse it's just mho....but DANG!:barf:
Click to expand...


Interestingly enough, in the 1883-1884 Russell catalog, they show "pocket knives" (with barlow shaped scales) with a sheepfoot master but without the long barlow bolster. All the Barlows in that catalog (but one) have spearpoint master blades.
 
This is the last barlow that I have. I bought two of the babies at a flea market for $20 each, nearly half off. The other one is gone as of yesterday. I thought about trading this one, but reconsidered knowing that I would regret it. It is much like MG's
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On the subject of Sheepfoot blades in Barlows, most manufacturers in years gone by, advertised Barlows with a Sheepfoot as an alternate blade to the more common Clip or Spear.
But I think they made far less of them. I've been looking for a Schrade Cut Co. for a long time, and found this one (at the top of the picture), which looks like it was abandoned at birth.:eek: Only one I've seen so far.
After removing the active rust, I have a nearly unsharpened exampled of a darn rare Peachseed bone handled Scrade; with a case of overpatina:rolleyes:. Ugly and beautiful at the same time!;)
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Wonderful looking Barlows, the bone on the sheepsfoot is very nice both in color and in the jigging.
 
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