What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

pertinux said:
Very nicely done.

(I figured it was something along those lines, barring the possibility that you are a Master Distressor. Perhaps both? ;))

~ P.
Click to expand...

Haha - not so much. I actually browsed the 'bay for a while looking for "worthless" knives with rusted or broken blades but decent handle materials. I have a few on hand now.
 
Primble said:
I just looked through my catalogs and they also made a plain unstamped bolstered Barlow, which did indeed have the normal tang stamps. On the three known styles, they used, bone, iron bolsters, and iron liners.

Model 2159 was a clip with pen, 2139 was a spear with pen. 2 indicates number of blades, 1 indicates front bolster, and the last two digits indicate pattern number, style of blade. :)

Pretty sure that they also made a sheep foot model in the Scripted bolster series, as I have seen one that appeared to be authentic. It is not shown in the early catalogs, however.
Click to expand...

I've got two Cattaraugus barlows, one of which is a sheepfoot - model 2149:
image1.jpg
 
Longpull, very nice (2149) SF Cattaraugus scrolled marked bolster Barlow and that Spear CCC isn't bad either :thumbup: . How long have you had those for? Thanks for posting pictures of those two rare vintage Barlows. Lloyd
 
Luger1952 said:
Thanks Rob for the great information! I kind of assumed that with the bolster company identification they probably thought that the need to add the company info/ID on the Barlow primary blade tang was diminished or unnecessary. That would be cool to find a Cattaraugus scrolled bolster Sheep Foot Barlow or the non bolster identified Cattaraugus Barlow with the company info on the tang. The hunt continues with these insights. Oh heck, I will settle for a Spear (2139) bolster marked Cattaraugus Barlow while I keep an eye out for the SF. Thanks again--appreciate you providing this interesting information. Lloyd
Click to expand...

Your welcome Lloyd. As you know, I have a keen interest in old Catts. You don't see the spearpoints up for sale very often.
 
Luger1952 said:
Through some diligent hunting, in the last couple of months, I been fortunate in scoring these vintage Barlows. The jigged bone is a Schrade. Notice the nail nick and long pull on the OVB. I have not seen this before. How unusual is this or not?

...
Thanks, Lloyd
Click to expand...
Congrats on the success of your hunting, Lloyd! :thumbup::thumbup:
Very impressive collection of vintage Barlows! :cool:

jlhoffman74 said:
What makes a good traditional barlow...
...by making it your own.
...
GEC_TCbarlow_05.jpg

...
Click to expand...
Couple of beauties, Jeff! :thumbup::thumbup:

Snoopy1 said:
Most of my meager TC collection:)

IMG_20160115_171551_zpscnjd9tqd.jpg
Click to expand...
Awesome, Snoopy1! I sure wouldn't consider that "meager"; "majestic" comes to mind instead! :thumbup::thumbup:

jprime84 said:
My latest custom Imperial



Click to expand...
That turned out spectacularly, Jeff! :thumbup::thumbup: Are you considering "going pro" with Imperial mods??

bleh said:
Finally scored a couple TCs.

Click to expand...

Congrats, Sean! :thumbup::cool:

- GT
 
bleh said:
Playing around tonight. I only have a semi circle.



Click to expand...


Very, very nice Sean!! You've got Barlow goodness from many sources there. :thumbup:

Some Star Wars movies are also in 4-D. The episodes with Jar Jar Binks break the fourth dimension and stretch into seeming eternity. :eek:;):D
 
bleh said:
Playing around tonight. I only have a semi circle.
Click to expand...

Is the far-left a Utica or recent Kutmaster? What handle material are we looking at there? :eek: Sure is purdy, and is that a spear master I see? :D

Despite all the issues with fit and finish that I've seen on Uticas and Kutmasters, and even with some of the "aftermarket" damage that's been passed along to me (still upset about the tip of my Kutmaster's sheepsfoot :grumpy:), there's a sort of elegance to those Barlows. I think it'll be nice seeking a wider collection of these, and it probably won't cost an arm and a leg like some of these delightful but humbling collections in this thread to date. :D



 
Last edited:
What makes a good traditional barlow? I vote variety! Sizes, blade styles, covers... My ideal barlow would be in smooth bone, easy open with a Spear and a caplifter. But I'm very fond of all of these.







 
TsarBomba said:
Is the far-left a Utica or recent Kutmaster? What handle material are we looking at there? :eek: Sure is purdy, and is that a spear master I see? :D
Click to expand...

It's a kutmaster Utica NY. I picked it up on eBay for 5 bucks and swapped the plastic covers for some brown micarta I had laying around. It was an experiment to see how difficult a scale swap is.

It does have a spear master, but but unfortunately it was sharpened by DruMOAG, the destroyer of blades. I
 
Jfowl31 said:
What makes a good traditional barlow? I vote variety! Sizes, blade styles, covers... My ideal barlow would be in smooth bone, easy open with a Spear and a caplifter. But I'm very fond of all of these.
Click to expand...

And you're right to be! :thumbup: Tell me more about that unmarked Barlow with the caplifter? ;)

bleh said:
It's a kutmaster Utica NY. I picked it up on eBay for 5 bucks and swapped the plastic covers for some brown micarta I had laying around. It was an experiment to see how difficult a scale swap is.
It does have a spear master, but but unfortunately it was sharpened by DruMOAG, the destroyer of blades. I
Click to expand...

Well it turned out looking real nice, and gets me thinking about micarta on some of the beaters I have deigned to clean up and possibly rehandle; over in his own thread jprime84's work with Imperials, especially the Barlows he's done, has been giving me some inspiration. I definitely need an upgrade in available tools to tackle something like that, unfortunately :grumpy: but if I just rein it in a little on the knives I might be able to afford it in due time. :cool:

Did the internal construction of the Kutmaster seem sturdy enough to spend the time customizing or modding it? I may snap up a few when I'm confident enough to try some interesting scale materials or other fiddling. Well done! :thumbup:
 
The unmarked one is the newest addition. It's a custom mod by Glennbad that I bought from the original owner. He took a Crown lifter and put buckeye burl covers on it and the lined barlow Bolsters. One of the original Beerlows!





 
Jfowl31 said:
The unmarked one is the newest addition. It's a custom mod by Glennbad that I bought from the original owner. He took a Crown lifter and put buckeye burl covers on it and the lined barlow Bolsters. One of the original Beerlows!
Click to expand...

Fantastic stuff, I always enjoy a clever secondary blade configuration on a Barlow. There is an endless variety of blade types that work on the pattern, IMNSHO. :D Yours is a fantastic example! :thumbup:

This is one of Queen's limited runs, a #69 Barlow with a spear and a skate key in stag. :rolleyes::D









Doesn't get much more traditional than stag, or roller skating. :p
 
Jfowl31 said:
What makes a good traditional barlow? I vote variety! Sizes, blade styles, covers... My ideal barlow would be in smooth bone, easy open with a Spear and a caplifter. But I'm very fond of all of these.
Click to expand...

Nice knives, but traditional Barlows do not have cap-lifters, nor are they 'easy-open', those might be nice patterns, but they're not traditional Barlows. :thumbup:

(Hoping we don't have to have this discussion again here! :thumbup:)

TsarBomba said:
Fantastic stuff, I always enjoy a clever secondary blade configuration on a Barlow. There is an endless variety of blade types that work on the pattern, IMNSHO. :D
Click to expand...

The only traditional secondary blade on a Barlow is a pen blade (fantastic as that Queen is). It takes more than a long front bolster to make a Barlow :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top