What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

Here is one I never thought I would find, an unused Russell Barlow with all original finishes remaining as it left the factory. Arched tang stamp puts it 1933 to 1941. Russell barlows were sold in almost every hardware store across the country, sold for as little as 15 cents, made tough and cheap they were used hard and used up, unused ones are extremely difficult to find. Russell probably made millions of them over a very long time.


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Augie said:
Here is one I never thought I would find, an unused Russell Barlow with all original finishes remaining as it left the factory. Arched tang stamp puts it 1933 to 1941. Russell barlows were sold in almost every hardware store across the country, sold for as little as 15 cents, made tough and cheap they were used hard and used up, unused ones are extremely difficult to find. Russell probably made millions of them over a very long time.


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Congrats!! 🤝
Nice Barlow!! 😊
John 😁
 
Augie said:
Here is one I never thought I would find, an unused Russell Barlow with all original finishes remaining as it left the factory. Arched tang stamp puts it 1933 to 1941. Russell barlows were sold in almost every hardware store across the country, sold for as little as 15 cents, made tough and cheap they were used hard and used up, unused ones are extremely difficult to find. Russell probably made millions of them over a very long time.


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Great Scott, what a lucky find, John!!!! I'm jealous as all get out!!! o_O 😁👍
 
waynorth said:
I finally got one of Cooper's Barlows, a nice NYK!!! They do a nice job on the integral bolsters, and they have captured the flavor of a traditional sawcut Barlow!! I'm impressed!!!View attachment 2966683
Some will complain about the lack of swedges, but I like that wide blade for a change!!! Nice knife!! I like the historic "Matteawan" labeling!!
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A subtle drawn swedge would look great, but a crisp cut swedge would ruin it.
These broad spear blades look great, nobody really does these much anymore and I don't know why.
Maybe they're boring to a lot of people these days ?
I don't know but I really really love many very old school conventional things that a lot of people these days find boring.
 
RustyRick said:
New to the party. Got my first this year. I love all the "character" in this thread.
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Congrats.
Aside from maybe the shield that is unconventional for the pattern and the oversized pen blade ( I'm the only one bothered by it ) Case is really hitting the nail on the head with their barlows.
They have that particular clip point profile that so many people remember fondly from the prevalent Imperial & colonial Barlow's, and the blades always come out straight & inline with the frame.
Good snap and half stops, good F&F, some of Case's most consistent edge grinds these days ,they're just really getting it right.
I wasn't sure they'd have the Barlow dialed in when they brought it back ( the swell center & congress have hit / miss blade grinds ) but they definitely do.

I want more Carbon steel offerings as usual, and I'll just never understand the pb&J popularity, but regardless you definitely got a good example of Case craftsmanship.
 
Augie said:
Here is one I never thought I would find, an unused Russell Barlow with all original finishes remaining as it left the factory. Arched tang stamp puts it 1933 to 1941. Russell barlows were sold in almost every hardware store across the country, sold for as little as 15 cents, made tough and cheap they were used hard and used up, unused ones are extremely difficult to find. Russell probably made millions of them over a very long time.


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Amazing find, congrats ! 😍👍
 
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