What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

It was suggested to me that the reason the bone handles on this old Miller Bros. barlow look so unusual is because they are not bone at all but rather are old ivory. I don't believe the handles are original but they don't appear to be recently replaced either as the joints suggest some shrinkage over time. There does appear to be some crazing that you sometimes see in old ivory and my friend remains adamant. I remain skeptical but open the floor to opinions more knowledgable than mine. What do you think?

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Thanks Augie, Charlie and Harry! Augie, you're spot on about the Old Cutler barlows... a definite step up from the other Colonial barlows.

Atiger, I don't know. I'm not very good at determining ivory/bone from pictures and even when in hand, it is sometimes difficult.
 
I don't see the "canals" that you see in bone, in the pics.
Maybe it's ivory??
 
I would love to know how to tell the difference between bone & ivory. Hopefully someone here will pipe in with a way to tell. That Miller Bros is quite the knife whatever the handle.
 
Sonny14 said:
I would love to know how to tell the difference between bone & ivory. Hopefully someone here will pipe in with a way to tell. That Miller Bros is quite the knife whatever the handle.
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One way is to look for Haversion Canals. They are small, sometimes microscopic, channels in the outer layers of bone to allow nerves, blood vessels etc. to traverse the bone. Sometimes you can see them with the naked eye, and sometimes you need magnification. And some areas have none.
Ivory does not have these. Under magnification, Ivory's structure is markedly different from bone. Get a glass or device to look closely, and it's pretty straightforward. I have a microscope, and it is astounding really!!

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Best $200 I ever spent!!
 
LastRodeo said:
Is that what you use to do QC on your SFOs Charlie?
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Ha ha - no! I only use it to determine authenticity in older knives and parts thereof! I have found blades that have been expertly welded, and other repair and counterfeiting efforts.
I do look at new knives out of interest, but the only things that matter there, are visible with the naked eye, IMO.
 
waynorth said:
Ha ha - no! I only use it to determine authenticity in older knives and parts thereof! I have found blades that have been expertly welded, and other repair and counterfeiting efforts.
I do look at new knives out of interest, but the only things that matter there, are visible with the naked eye, IMO.
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+1 to this. Charlie, your SFOs are perfection. I shoulda' known you had a special trick up your sleeve :D
 
Hi all, been awhile since I posted here although I come to admire often. Got very lucky recently and purchased this from Lloyd on my far fetched quest to collect one of each soup bone variant. I think the 6 piece clip run will be my grail forever :D but this inside out bone was very close behind! :thumbup::thumbup:

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dispatch184 said:
Hi all, been awhile since I posted here although I come to admire often. Got very lucky recently and purchased this from Lloyd on my far fetched quest to collect one of each soup bone variant. I think the 6 piece clip run will be my grail forever :D but this inside out bone was very close behind! :thumbup::thumbup:

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Drew, I can't tell you how really glad I am that you bought that beautiful TC!!! :rolleyes::thumbup:

Speaking of Clips, I have really been enjoying my new release version! :)

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My collecting focus has been to gather one of each Buck SFO, that has never changed. However, because of this thread I also find that I love Barlows in general, and the TC Barlow especially. Unfortunately, just when I found a TC to go after this little rare jewel cropped up so I made an executive decision to temporarily forego my quest for the TC and dug down and bought this:
1995 SFO Buck #332 Barlow in Black Sawcut Delrin, (the twin to my yellow one posted here earlier), this one NIB w/ papers. Other than the uber-rare bone handled version(s), I now have all the Buck Barlows. After I recover from this rather substantial purchase I'll be on the hunt for an elusive TC, but not today.


 
I was recently the winner of Leghog's giveaway and received this camco 551 barlow. It's my first barlow and definitely one that I can see using regularly
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Enjoying the fabulous Barlows gents :thumbup:

Atiger, would it be possible for you to post some close-up pics of the scales on your Miller Brothers?
 
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