What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

[esnyx]

I took this shot so you wouldn't jump Evan. I still like my other slip too!

Take one with Barry's slip so I can use it as my background!!

 

[MercyfulfateXX]

I took this shot so you wouldn't jump Evan. I still like my other slip too!
I might start collecting pocket slips !

..........................
Charlie - I gathered that it probably was not going to happen by SFO - so I went the Evan route.
(Quite a bit more expensive when you have to buy two knives to make one though)

That's a nice one!

 

[Primble]

 

[Campbellclanman]

That is so cool, I love ol' Willie Coyote!!!

Primble my friend, you asked me a while ago if I had finished the refurb on that Big Ol' Red Bone Case Grand-daddy Barlow - yes I had Sir, I apologise I have no had the chance to take photo's of the completed task.
To all who didnt know about this lovely Barlow, is that when I bought it, it had the tip broken off, and extremely harsh scratch marks from Sharpening - on the blade, someone had tried to fix the blade movement and marked the Bolsters...so I........

1, Re-shaped the blade loosing as little Steel as possible...

2, Clamped the bolsters very carefully, side-peened the pins, filed them smooth using various grades of Wet & Dry Papers...

3, Blocked down the blades using wet and Dry papers until I had finished with 1500g ( started with 150, 180, 240, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1200, then 1500 )

4, "Charlie Bathed/ Boiled" in Cider Vinegar ( Blade only )

5, finished with 0000g Steel Wool and Mineral Oil.

I also treated the Bolsters, tried my very best to leave an aged look to them -they had protruding pins before and they just didnt look good to how they should do - there are a few tiny wee "dings" or pit marks on the Bolsters but I chose to leave those in.....
I am pretty happy how this old Beautiful knife looks compared to how it did when I purchased it, I dont like to touch old knives, but this time it called for it, I hope you like it and I will take any criticism good or bad.....

 

[Art_Vandeley]

Folks i might sound like a heretic and in olden times i may have been burned at the stake for this but hear me out.

I had a "dream" more or less i was lying half asleep as it came to me.

The TC barlows are pretty much almost custom quality and some custom makers use modern high end materials.

So i'll throw this idea out: S30V blade spear or clip single, bead blasted titanium bolsters and liners and g10 or micarta handle scales. G10 is very versatile and can even be jigged.

What do you guys think about it? Sure its not traditional but i think they'd come out pretty cool.

 

[Campbellclanman]

I was talking to our very good mate Paul the other day on the phone, we were planning the Give-away Thread etc, and as per usual our favourite subject came up about Charlie's TC Barlows - hey..the very reason you are reading this right now is because you feel how Paul and myself feel - we absolutely LOVE these knives..he asked me how many I had, here is a LOUSY shot - ( terrible weather outside ) of my TC's, ...about 10% of Evans collection :thumbup:



I admit to leaving my TC collection to second thought as I have been buying a few of Charlie SFO's up, so I have missed out on a lot as of lately - having Hindsight now this would never have happened because of the massive increase of popularity of these awesome knives - but...as I have been saying ever since the first day these came out - they deserve better recognition - and this is happening now - in a big way, and because of this I simply dont mind paying more, or having to search harder for them, its life, and its part of the fun and excitement of collecting knives....

 

[Campbellclanman]

Folks i might sound like a heretic and in olden times i may have been burned at the stake for this but hear me out.

I had a "dream" more or less i was lying half asleep as it came to me.

The TC barlows are pretty much almost custom quality and some custom makers use modern high end materials.

So i'll throw this idea out: S30V blade spear or clip single, bead blasted titanium bolsters and liners and g10 or micarta handle scales. G10 is very versatile and can even be jigged.

What do you guys think about it? Sure its not traditional but i think they'd come out pretty cool.

I think thats not why Charlie is making those knives - hey I could be wrong, but I think Charlie has so far RE-CREATED the OLD TRADITIONAL quality ( if not exceeding that ) and the patterns from the lost patterns of yesteryear, I personally feel that while your knife you are describing would be great as a modern day production folder - it would be Bastardizing the true Traditional character that Charlie has 100% awoken once again.

 

[avoidspam]

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Grand job on a beautiful knife. I don't own a Case but it's always their bone that makes me look twice. Yours is no exception



Still enjoying my sole TC (top cat as my wife calls it)

Sam

 

[avoidspam]

Folks i might sound like a heretic and in olden times i may have been burned at the stake for this but hear me out.

I had a "dream" more or less i was lying half asleep as it came to me.

The TC barlows are pretty much almost custom quality and some custom makers use modern high end materials.

So i'll throw this idea out: S30V blade spear or clip single, bead blasted titanium bolsters and liners and g10 or micarta handle scales. G10 is very versatile and can even be jigged.

What do you guys think about it? Sure its not traditional but i think they'd come out pretty cool.

If you look around you'll see a few custom makers are already doing this. I have a large Barlow on its way from Gene Wiseman which has different micarta bolsters and covers and a D2 blade. I can see where you're coming from as the Barlow pattern is a very classic and versatile frame but Charlie's knife really is something special in the traditional sense.

Sam

 

[Alnamvet68]

 

[Primble]

I also treated the Bolsters, tried my very best to leave an aged look to them -they had protruding pins before and they just didnt look good to how they should do - there are a few tiny wee "dings" or pit marks on the Bolsters but I chose to leave those in.....
I am pretty happy how this old Beautiful knife looks compared to how it did when I purchased it, I dont like to touch old knives, but this time it called for it, I hope you like it and I will take any criticism good or bad.....

I was just wondering about that knife the other day and remembered that you never responded to my question.

I am relieved to see it, once again, and that you did not "smash it to pieces with a ball peen hammer"

I think you did a very nice job on it and it now has a chance to age a little more, without those ugly scratches. :thumbup:

I see you treated the bolsters - with vinegar ?? - that was a very smart touch. I like the patina - I might have to try Charlie's method. :thumbup:

It is a tough call many times on when and how much to do to make an old knife look "right" again, for me. The Ulster I sent Charlie had those ugly vertical scratches and I chose to remove them and give the knife a second chance to age gracefully. I wish sometimes that we could do the same to our own selves.

I have quite a few old knives, with wonderful patina which I would never touch, but, patina is a fragile thing and once part of it is lost, or some previous owner did some no-nos with it, it sometimes is better to just remove all of the patina and give it a re-start.

I was happy to see that you chose to try the aged look vs. bright and shiny and over-cleaned look - aka as high speed buffing. :barf::barf:

Wonderful job Duncan and I truly believe that knife would look wonderful with MY red bone collection!!

P.S. - Well - it is not so long till Christmas and it takes a while from NZ!!

 

[Ryan Sumner]

My vintage barlow's.


The first is a Eye Witness, made in Sheffield England.
The second is a Mosley Rabbit knife, made by R F Mosley Sheffield England.
The third is made by Ernst G Ahrens.
And the fourth with the bone handles is made by J Dirlam & Sons Solingen Germany.

Cheers Gordon.

I have the same barlow! It's in much worse condition though, with a bit of oil staining in the bone and a fair bit of play that I have been considering fixing. (though that would mean I'd lose the patina from the bolster.)


Here it is with my all-time favorite knife.

Both have been used a lot, and seem to share the same issue of being compressed in the tang where it meets the spring. The spines aren't parallel with the handle. I have been wanting to fix this, but I'm not sure how it is done properly.

Nice Beerlow, Primble!
I am not going to have one made (I don't think??!!), but that doesn't stop me from appreciating them!

Would you consider anything that isn't a blade? Were there ever Barlows that had a flathead, nail file or something similar?


P.S. sorry for taking over with the large pictures, this is the smallest size my camera outputs.

 

[Primble]

I was talking to our very good mate Paul the other day on the phone, we were planning the Give-away Thread etc, and as per usual our favourite subject came up about Charlie's TC Barlows - hey..the very reason you are reading this right now is because you feel how Paul and myself feel - we absolutely LOVE these knives..he asked me how many I had, here is a LOUSY shot - ( terrible weather outside ) of my TC's, ...about 10% of Evans collection :thumbup:

I like to see the collection shots - so I know who to try and bribe !! :thumbup::thumbup:

Expect emails and PM's after that shot!

I wonder where Paul's collection shots are - maybe he would post one up??

 

[sandmountainslim]

Picked up a nice German made Russell to go with my Old Russell. I really like it and it seems a well made knife. Does anyone know if Boker is still making these knives under license from Dexter Russell?

 

[Primble]

I like the Bunny knives above. :thumbup:

Sam - I really like your "Top Cat" and that name. If you are only going to have one - that is a fine choice! :thumbup:

 

[pistonsandgears]

Nice Beerlow, Primble!
I am not going to have one made (I don't think??!!), but that doesn't stop me from appreciating them!

Bummer, I have been secretly hoping a production version would eventually come down the pike.

Evan did a nice job on your beerlow Primble, maybe i'll have to look into doing something like that. Although I actually want it for the screwdriver more than I do the caplifter

 

[Primble]

Content removed as courtesy to others. No offense intended.

 

[Jack Black]

Since Charlie has REPEATEDLY said why he won't be putting a caplifter/screwdriver blade on a TC Barlow frame, I don't know why the subject has to keeps coming up again and again. Having failed to get him to change his mind by outright nagging, it is of course completely possible to entirely circumvent his decision. That doesn't mean that this thread has to be given over to the discussion of caplifters and screwdrivers, please respect it as a thread to discuss traditional Barlow knives. The Bottle Jack/Radio Jack pattern is a very useful one, and there are plenty of other threads where it would, in my opinion, be better to discuss it, as well as the option to start a new one.

Jack

 

[Ryan Sumner]

Since Charlie has REPEATEDLY said why he won't be putting a caplifter/screwdriver blade on a TC Barlow frame, I don't know why the subject has to keeps coming up again and again. Having failed to get him to change his mind by outright nagging, it is of course completely possible to entirely circumvent his decision. That doesn't mean that this thread has to be given over to the discussion of caplifters and screwdrivers, please respect it as a thread to discuss traditional Barlow knives. The Bottle Jack/Radio Jack pattern is a very useful one, and there are plenty of other threads where it would, in my opinion, be better to discuss it, as well as the option to start a new one.

Jack

Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up again. I suppose I shouldn't have mentioned the screwdriver at all, I was more interested in an awl, or any other unusual blade configuration similar to the spey/clip barlows. I already knew that the ''beerlow'' wasn't going to be done, and didn't mean to push the matter.


Maybe a curved frame might be a possibility, but I doubt it.
I suppose that jigged bone is fairly rare on a barlow, as well as 'trapper' configerations, so a curved frame might not be out of the picture fully.

(the shapeliegh that Charlie posted is STUNNING though)

I also have a curved frame barlow, this K55K Kaufman & sons, Solingen. It has flush tangs, and has the "sharpest" halfstop of any knife in my collection.

 

[Jack Black]

Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up again.

No apology necessary Ryan :thumbup: