What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

Primble beautiful, fantastic and cool barlows!

I particularly like the Ulster. Looks like it is in great condition.
 
Thank you for the nice comments Duncan, Al, Fred, and Dean. :thumbup: I am imagining Fred counting the clips! :D:D
 
Primble said:
Old%20Barlows1_zpsjer1v07t.jpg~original


(Forgot to raid the Primble Cabinet) :D
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I just HAD to carry this one over!!! I want that as my new screen saver...BEAUTIFUL BARLOWS Rob:cool::cool::cool:

The stunning part is I know you have even more vintage gems like the ones pictures:eek:;):D
 
Half/Stop said:
Harry, sorry I did not see this question till now :) Yes the bolster is stamped and yes it is upside down. I would imagine they only made one bolster, which makes sense. The knife has the standard Camillus 3 line stamp. This is the clip model and has the Model "11" stamp. Thanks for the compliment :)
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You probably seen in the 1946 Camillus Catalogue that your Tip Top is in it but they put Camillus on the bolsters in the 1948 catalogue.
Harry
 
paulhilborn said:
I just HAD to carry this one over!!! I want that as my new screen saver...BEAUTIFUL BARLOWS Rob:cool::cool::cool:

The stunning part is I know you have even more vintage gems like the ones pictures:eek:;):D
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I would be honored my friend and thank you for the carry over! I was sad :o, in the end, that in my haste to beat the dusk, I failed to include the clip Primble Barlow. :o:o;)

A pic for another day, I suppose. ;)

How could I forget to include one of my most cherished Barlows ? :o
ofvsxe.jpg


Old Engineer said:
Primble : I must thank you for a great picture of some great old Barlows. I now can run off a copy of them to carry with me on my searches. Well done !

Harry
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Always appreciated Harry. :thumbup::)
 
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I have a Barlow question if I may. I've only recently became interested in Barlow patterns. In reading much of the history regarding this pattern, one of the things that has been mentioned and described about the build was that they had a long bolster that was integral with the liner. This was presumably for strength in a small pocketable knife.
My question is in regards to more current production Barlows. Why do most all that I've seen regardless of maker, have separate bolsters and liners instead of the integral bolster/liner arrangement? Is it because modern steels and materials stronger than what was used in the past? Is it a cost/time saving measure? My inquiring mind would like to know. I have searched, but not found an answer on this. Thank you for your more knowledgeable insight than I have.
 
Absolutely gorgeous Primble, err Primble.

Primble said:
I would be honored my friend and thank you for the carry over! I was sad :o, in the end, that in my haste to beat the dusk, I failed to include the clip Primble Barlow. :o:o;)

A pic for another day, I suppose. ;)

How could I forget to include one of my most cherished Barlows ? :o
ofvsxe.jpg




Always appreciated Harry. :thumbup::)
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BigBiscuit said:
I have a Barlow question if I may. I've only recently became interested in Barlow patterns. In reading much of the history regarding this pattern, one of the things that has been mentioned and described about the build was that they had a long bolster that was integral with the liner. This was presumably for strength in a small pocketable knife.
My question is in regards to more current production Barlows. Why do most all that I've seen regardless of maker, have separate bolsters and liners instead of the integral bolster/liner arrangement? Is it because modern steels and materials stronger than what was used in the past? Is it a cost/time saving measure? My inquiring mind would like to know. I have searched, but not found an answer on this. Thank you for your more knowledgeable insight than I have.
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Bob,

I think it might be an evolution of the design, probably cost effective as well. Hammered pins seemed to lose favor over time too. I have American made examples from 1876 and the early nineteen hundreds and none have the integral bolster. I imagine that the earliest English Barlows might be the only factory examples made that way, but, there may be a few American made exceptions that I have never seen.

It might be they found that the integral bolster was just not needed. I am sure Charlie could enlighten us further. ;):)
 
Forging those integral bolsters from iron was probably a heck of a lot of work. To do it these days with steel would probably be done on a lathe/mill which would also be expensive and time consuming. I think only top custom makers are doing it that way these days.
 
Rob and Phil; thank you for those answers. Pretty much what I was guessing but wasn't sure. I know from a materials standpoint, I don't believe a one piece integral design adds any more strength. If it does, it would probably be minimal. I can see the custom guys doing it more for aesthetics as it would be much cleaner looking.
 
Just received my new barlow sheath from Barry with a surprise button. Here it is with my newly acquired TC Walnut. Barry does great work!

 
The pictures of my old friends SEO&S and Russell are in an attempt to show what Big Biscuit ( Alias Bob ) was asking about. The SEO&S has the bolster and liner , either cast or forged , I don't know which , as a 1 piece design. The Russell has cast or forged bolster and sheet steel for the liners. On both knives the Logo is upside down on one side showing a common part in the bolster area. I do not have a scale small enough to weigh them , but the weight for each by feel is the same . The SEO&S is 1 blade and the Russell is 2 blade.



The one above on the left is the SEO&S



The SEO&S is most likel 1890's and the Russell is tang stamped as prior to 1940. That does not answer your questions Bob , but they are most likely made differantly because of manufacturing technology changes over time and inherant cost advantages .

Harry
 
Thank you Harry. I do suspect as you, Rob and Phil have stated, it's more a case of cost/time savings to not mill a one piece liner/bolster. I'm sure that current technology allows for better pinning and mating of all the components than what was available back in the day.
One thing I like about the vintage Barlows are the bolster stampings. The new Charlows are very tastefully done as are the #77 Medium Barlows. It just seems that the vintage manufacturers got very artistic in their logo designs. It definitely adds to the attraction of the pattern. :thumbup:
 
Harry - thanks for going to the trouble to show the difference. The integral bolstered SEO&S certainly gives one the impression of superior strength. :)
 
Hi Bob,

I don't think the bolsters were made intergral to make the knife stronger, even if that was actually the case (and I agree with you that it probably makes no difference), I don't think that would have been a consideration. Inset-scale (non-folding) knives first became fashionable in the 16th century, and later that's what the early Barlow knives were - they had two intergral bolsters with an inset scale. Not only was this very fashionable in the mid 18th century, but it allowed less scale material to be used (being cheaper and stronger because of that), and it also allowed other manufacturers to inset their own scales depending on what the customer wanted (even fancy fruit knives were produced like this), which was very much how the working system was at the time. The price of labour was so cheap it wasn't a consideration in Sheffield back then, nor even as the pattern evolved to the single bolstered knife we know today. Later, of course, elsewhere, in other circumstances, and with different technology, things were different.

As for milling, I was with a Sheffield cutler 2 weeks ago who still cuts out his blades with a hacksaw! :D

Jack
 
Thank you for that info Jack. I bow to your knowledge. You're a virtual encyclopedia when it comes to this stuff. :D :thumbup: The strength comment was only brought up as that's what I read in several briefs regarding the pattern. Of course many people have their own interpretations as to the how's and why's of the evolution of this wonderful design we all like so much. I know you are very thorough in your research, so I trust your opinion.
This is all just curiosity and banter fodder instead of the usual just posting pics of what we have and are getting. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :D
 
BigBiscuit said:
Thank you for that info Jack. I bow to your knowledge. You're a virtual encyclopedia when it comes to this stuff. :D :thumbup: The strength comment was only brought up as that's what I read in several briefs regarding the pattern. Of course many people have their own interpretations as to the how's and why's of the evolution of this wonderful design we all like so much. I know you are very thorough in your research, so I trust your opinion.
This is all just curiosity and banter fodder instead of the usual just posting pics of what we have and are getting. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :D
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Thanks Bob, thankfully we all have the benefit of a lot of existing research and writing. It's also worth noting that we're going back to the early history of spring knives, when Britain was moving away from the previously dominant French cutlery influences, and a lot of new designs and ideas were flying about. As today, fashion has a big influence, and having something different to your competitor can give you an edge in an overcrowded market. I don't think Barlow knives were originally sold as a strong, working pattern, why would they be? The blade shapes on the earliest knives certainly don't indicate that, rather they are based on table cutlery blade shapes of the time. The basic models would have been cheap though, and while others made similar knives, the Barlows made famously good knives. As the pattern developed, particularly with so many in use, and in the young 'New World', it's not hard to see how Barlows earned a reputation as a tough no nonsense jack knife. That big bolster would undoubtedly make it a tougher knife than a shadow pattern for example, but whether or not it actually made it any stronger or not, I'm sceptical, I'd have thought the size of the pivot pin would have been a bigger factor than the amount of metal surrounding it. That old pattern has certainly been a lasting fashion though hasn't it? :)
 
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