What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

You all are embarrassing me with your effusive comments! But thanks!!
We are lucky to have such an amazing Merry Band of knifemakers over in Pennsylvania!:rolleyes:

And thanks for pointing out my typo, Sarah (1012 vs. 2012) With all the cool responses, I just have to let it stand!! (The Normans are coming! The Normans are coming!)
:o
Agreed folks?? I mean, what's a thousand years among friends, anyway??:D
 
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I couldn't be more proud of the two Charlows I do have (a single spey in African Blackwood and a single long-pull spear in Gabon Ebony - a Grail Barlow if ever there was one!). They're truly very special to me and perhaps my most cherished of any knives I own.

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From the Spring of 2013... a single long-pull spear in Gabon Ebony :)
 
Happy Charlow-Versary Charlie :)

I've only been in this community a short while, but have found it to be a very close and family like environment.

Reading your posts and seeing what you do here and for the knife community as a whole really has made my interest in traditionals turn into a somewhat addiction :)

Its no coincidence that my 2 most beloved knives from GEC are your designs, the Charlow and 85. You have a real passion for knives and it shows.

Heres to many more great knives!!
 
arizonaranchman said:
I couldn't be more proud of the two Charlows I do have (a single spey in African Blackwood and a single long-pull spear in Gabon Ebony - a Grail Barlow if ever there was one!). They're truly very special to me and perhaps my most cherished of any knives I own.

5B7EC9AA-A753-4840-9C26-DF59C2BDAAB9_zpsvx2cvkjo.jpg

36F77B35-379B-4AEE-8397-2B9253AB9C22_zpsioy4hr36.jpg

From the Spring of 2013... a single long-pull spear in Gabon Ebony :)
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Definitely a grail knife there.
 
esnyx said:
Thanks Mort! I try not to do too much to my old knives, as I like to preserve their individual history reflected through their wear and use, so this is basically exactly how I got it!
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I understand completely. Some of my favorite old knives are far from the rarest or most valuable. They are the ones that make me think of the type of person or persons that have owned it since it was new.
 
Not entirely a traditional barlow pattern, but here is the #77 stag barlow I've been edcing since I got it. Currently at college so hard to find time to take pics
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Blade, the stag on your 77 looks gorgeous! I think the stag and large bolsters make for a striking combo.

Curtis
 
Charlie, I wonder when you sat down in the beginning of this particular journey of your knife life and started to gear up a notion about working with Bill, that you would end up with something as spectacular as this........



Thank you for having the guts to go ahead and do it!! :thumbup:
 
If its history you want ( happy Charmemberance Day btw:D)
We need look no further than the one thousandth anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf AD 1014.
This was when King Brian Boru decided he was sick and tired of the Danes coming over from the Orkneys,buying up all the Charlows and selling them on at a later date when market forces had driven the price up.
His army led by son Murchadh wiped out 6000 Vikings at Clontarf near Dublin.Boru himself was killed.
the dispirited Norsemen turned their attention to England and opened up a Viking themed visitor centre which still exists today.It is called Yorkshuh... or something.
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AND it is a tribute to the quality of the Charlows that they have in some way like our seagoing ancestors travelled in small numbers to distant places around the globe.
cheers.
 
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I came across a couple of knives at a small antiques fair I went to on Saturday. One was a small silver fruit knife I've posted in the Old Knives thread, the other was also Sheffield-made, with a single clip-point blade in well-patinaed carbon steel. It had rose-wood covers, and probably dated from the 1970's. The price was reasonable, and I would have snapped it up except for two things. It had the word 'Barlow' marked on the covers, which I always think makes a knife look rather cheap, but more importantly it didn't have a Barlow bolster! Odd knife, I almost wish I'd bought it just so I could post a pic!
 
Got a Che Chen Rosewood. My first single. I'm going to see if the nail nick will grow on me. I much prefer the long pull. Best of the wood variants IMO.
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Oh my :eek::p
Duncan what a beautiful collection.
But if the top one and the third down in the left hand row are taking up too much room, I'll be happy to help you out ;):D
 
Haha - I am sure you would be only so kind to do that for me my friend :thumbup:, thank you for that very nice offer :D

To answer your question - yeah I do prefer single bladed knives - I am not too sure why to be honest, because I have many knives and love all of them as much, but when ordering the TC's I automatically go for the single blades - so I follow my gut...I am sorry if that sounds silly - but this is how its happened, and yet Paul gave me a Twin Bladed Ebony, and I love that knife to bits!
 
Oh my! Duncan, what a great collection!!! Thank you for showing them in their entirety:thumbup:

That is all of them or might there be others:) Seriously, a great collection my friend:thumbup:
 
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