- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,682
Forgive a guy new to this particular forum, but I don't know what is the exact protocol in this particular little slice of (expensive
) heaven
Please forgive me if it's in the wrong place.
I picked up this little well worn fella at a flea market shop yesterday:
As I am a total greenhorn to traditionals beyond knowing some basic patterns and a few quality makers, all I can tell about it is that it's a Barlow pattern manufactured by Craftsman at some point. The only marking is on the clip blade that reads "Craftsman" then "USA 9540" under that. I have no idea how to date it, but it doesn't really bother me how old or new it is.
When I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, my grandpa gave me a Barlow very similar to this one. I have no idea what brand it was. It just said, "Barlow" on the bolster. My grandma had picked it up for maybe a quarter at a yard sale. My grandpa cleaned it up and sharpened it to the point that it could "shave the hair off the devil's ass" as he put it. It was old, but I liked it a lot. Of course, I promptly lost it in the woods
It wasn't a great loss. My grandma was always picking up old pocket knives for next to nothing, and my grandpa liked cleaning them up. The would give me dozens of different knives over the years, but for some reason that old Barlow with it's patina and pocket worn brown bone scales always stuck with me. I have no idea why, but I have always missed that knife even if its been nearly 30 year since it was given to me.
When I went digging through the box at the flea market, I kinda knew that I was looking for a Barlow pattern. When I stumbled upon this one, I just had to have it. It was a little rusty. The pen blade wouldn't open but the main blade worked OK. It was sharp even if it looked like someone had mechanically sharpened it at one point...I hate that. With just a little bit of oil and bit of mild sanding, it loosened up just fine.
The blades actually sharpened up better than I thought they would. Using just a medium Arkansas stone and a loaded strop, I was shaving arm hair (I'm decades away from being able to shave Satan's tookus like my grandpa). Walk and talk is just fine with the amount of blade wiggle one would expect from a knife that never cost much money when it was new and probably spent a decade or two at the bottom of long passed away handy man.
I really love this pattern of knife. Certainly worth the $8 I paid
) heaven Please forgive me if it's in the wrong place.I picked up this little well worn fella at a flea market shop yesterday:
As I am a total greenhorn to traditionals beyond knowing some basic patterns and a few quality makers, all I can tell about it is that it's a Barlow pattern manufactured by Craftsman at some point. The only marking is on the clip blade that reads "Craftsman" then "USA 9540" under that. I have no idea how to date it, but it doesn't really bother me how old or new it is.
When I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, my grandpa gave me a Barlow very similar to this one. I have no idea what brand it was. It just said, "Barlow" on the bolster. My grandma had picked it up for maybe a quarter at a yard sale. My grandpa cleaned it up and sharpened it to the point that it could "shave the hair off the devil's ass" as he put it. It was old, but I liked it a lot. Of course, I promptly lost it in the woods
It wasn't a great loss. My grandma was always picking up old pocket knives for next to nothing, and my grandpa liked cleaning them up. The would give me dozens of different knives over the years, but for some reason that old Barlow with it's patina and pocket worn brown bone scales always stuck with me. I have no idea why, but I have always missed that knife even if its been nearly 30 year since it was given to me.When I went digging through the box at the flea market, I kinda knew that I was looking for a Barlow pattern. When I stumbled upon this one, I just had to have it. It was a little rusty. The pen blade wouldn't open but the main blade worked OK. It was sharp even if it looked like someone had mechanically sharpened it at one point...I hate that. With just a little bit of oil and bit of mild sanding, it loosened up just fine.
The blades actually sharpened up better than I thought they would. Using just a medium Arkansas stone and a loaded strop, I was shaving arm hair (I'm decades away from being able to shave Satan's tookus like my grandpa
). Walk and talk is just fine with the amount of blade wiggle one would expect from a knife that never cost much money when it was new and probably spent a decade or two at the bottom of long passed away handy man.I really love this pattern of knife. Certainly worth the $8 I paid
