What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

waynorth said:
Glad you like the Barlow Bunch, Rachel - I'm pretty proud and happy!
Can you post a better picture of the tang stamp on your Empire? I have put the age question to an Empire expert in Winsted!
Click to expand...

This is the best picture I have of the tang.
Thanks for asking your expert in Winsted!

 
r8shell said:
This is the best picture I have of the tang.
Thanks for asking your expert in Winsted!

Click to expand...

M%20Empire%20tang_zpsdnfsd5e4.jpg


Here's mine, closer up. The tang stamps might tell the tale of age!
 
Very neat to see so many variations both past and present.
Here is a wee little old fellow from Wadsworth out of Germany.

 
Congratulations Charlie a simply spectacular bunch of Barlows!! I like the MB, Empire and those Winchesters! Just a great group of very high grade examples all of them! I would be super thrilled to add anyone of those to my collection. Best, Lloyd
 
I like those smaller Barlows Herder! And the stovepipe kicks too! Nice one!!

Thanks Lloyd - glad you like them!

Rachel, here's a quote from my friend Tom in Winsted;

"The knife that is stamped Knife co is definitely an earlier knife.
As time went on they dropped the KNIFE CO marking and just used Winsted CT".

So your knife is most likely the older of the two!
 
Herder: Love the color and texture of that bone.

R8shell: You've been amassing some really fine, historic knives. Great close-ups!

Charlie: Another great collection you've managed to wrangle from someone! I love the variety of bolster stamps, and especially the anchor. That's unique!

Chin: Thanks for the Bunnie Barlows--they are a nice variation in the Barlow family.

LastRodeo: Great photo of Charlie's latest! I can't wait for mine to arrive from Barry!
 
waynorth said:
I like those smaller Barlows Herder! And the stovepipe kicks too! Nice one!!

Thanks Lloyd - glad you like them!

Rachel, here's a quote from my friend Tom in Winsted;

"The knife that is stamped Knife co is definitely an earlier knife.
As time went on they dropped the KNIFE CO marking and just used Winsted CT".

So your knife is most likely the older of the two!
Click to expand...

Wow! Thank you so much for your help researching this. Did he say around what years they made that change? I've got a few 100 year old knives, but none pre-1900. (It's perhaps a silly quirk that I like to know which is the oldest knife in my collection. I imagine the knives arguing amongst themselves for bragging rights :D )
 
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Nice barlows, guys.

I found a few photos of some interesting barlows on the web.

This is the first old barlow that I've seen with a bottle opener.






I'd be interested in hearing Charlies thoughts on this knife. I sent him a link a while back but I'm not sure if he got the email.




 
I don't recall the link, Jake. But that's a Barlow Barlow!;)
I can't quite make out the stamping on the tang - do you own the knife now?
 
I don't have either knife but both are now sold. The stamp is

BAR
LOW

The letters look individually stamped to me. The "B" appears to be the wrong direction. The stamp near the spine appears to be a "simicar" (sic) and "Z". There are several related entries on page 16 of Goins'. Goins' calls "BAR LOW" the "original barlow marking" and gives credit for the invention of the pattern to Obadiah Barlow. Goins' says that Samuel Barlow (no relation) stamped the blades with a "simicar" (scimitar) and "Z" but the "simicar" drawn in Goins' looks a bit different than the one on the knife (appears to be inverted)... looks more similar to some of yours. F Ward used a fish hook "Z" according to Goins' but the fish hook drawing is different. I have not seen other examples. Have you?

For comparison, here are oldies from your posts...

waynorth said:
Thanks for the Barlow story, Rob!
I don't know anything for sure - there are a couple of summaries of the Barlow "saga". But you seem to have characterized it well!
I think this picture is posted early in this thread, but it seems like a good time to interject a peek at history!

BarlowsEarly_zpsb273e37a.jpg


Note some "scratted bone" handles, 1500International!
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Another one of Charlie and GEC's latest TCs. The Gem of 2016! Best photo I could do in cloudlight.

 
I don't have one with that tang stamp, but every other detail seems correct, Jake. I think that knife is a "Samuel Barlow".
I hindsight, I wish I had a shot at that knife - but there is always another knife to buy!!:rolleyes:
 
Charlie's latest barlow is a real beauty! I hope everyone that wanted one was able to score one of these classics!
 
With great thanks to you Barry I am sure many did, thank you for all that you do for all of us here my friend.

I love it!
 
Thanks! Sorry the message didn't get to you. The BAR LOW tang stamp would be fun for a SFO... but maybe with all the letters facing the same direction. ;) I managed to order one from the new run and I'm looking forward to it.
 
Great to see those old Barlows Chin and Charlie :thumbup:

supratentorial said:
This is the first old barlow that I've seen with a bottle opener.
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I think both Imperial and Richards used that blade on a variety of small (around 2") penknife patterns Jake, I usually call it the 'Dum Waiter'! ;) :D I don't think they gave a great deal of thought to patterns, and of course since the covers are hollow, there's no real bolster at all :thumbup:

waynorth said:
Jake. I think that knife is a "Samuel Barlow".
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I think you're right Charlie, beautiful old knife Jake :thumbup:

I have to say that the more I've researched the history of the Barlow cutlers, the more I've realised that the stuff published in various books about the family and the knife is little more than rubbish, with no independent research behind it, simply one writer repeating the errors he has read in other similar books :rolleyes:
 
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