What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

That Hatch can rest up in my place anytime- I remember when Charles showed us this Knife the first time and it Floored me- I think this is an extremely beautiful knife!
 
This STA SHARP Barlow arrived today, I think it's made by Camillus. I have other STA SHARP knives that I base that on. This has BEAUTIFUL bone covers, solid blades, although the main is down a bit but over all I'm really pleased as it's a solid knife:thumbsup:

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Augie Augie I am not too sure if I like your new style of Notching up on the Barlows my friend :D, But darned nice nice mate Love those hard to get Sheepsfoot. Speaking of...I wonder who will turn up with that beauty of an I*XL that went on the Big Site?

Paul- That is a real nice Barlow- Worn blade? That Knife is as we talked about the other day...in lovely proportion my friend- thats a very handsome Knife!

Ironbut Ironbut - $3!!!:eek: you lucky dog you! :thumbsup:
 
paulhilborn said:
This STA SHARP Barlow arrived today, I think it's made by Camillus. I have other STA SHARP knives that I base that on. This has BEAUTIFUL bone covers, solid blades, although the main is down a bit but over all I'm really pleased as it's a solid knife:thumbsup:

5wDiCY.jpg


x3k6UP.jpg


wvSmGv.jpg


f9kQTQ.jpg
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A very nice example of a Barlow knife! Sta-Sharp was indeed a Sears Roebuck knife line made by Camillus, before the Craftsman line. They are often tang stamped in three separate lines:"Highcarbon, Steel, USA". When new, the blades were lightly etched with the words "Sta-Sharp" and the model number. There are a few transitional knives that are etched on the blade with both the "Sta Sharp" and the "Craftsman" brands. The quality of the Sta-Sharp line, as well as its value for money price, landed Camillus their Sears Craftsman contract in the late 1920's.
 
View attachment 717900 This one just arrived today. Pretty nice! The blades are centered, with no wobble. Good snap, halfstops. No gaps between the scales & bolsters, & the liners are fitted tight. Blade opening is a little bit gritty, but I can live with that. I've been lucky with all four of my Queens, because I haven't had any of the QC issues that I've heard about.
 
Ironbut said:
View attachment 717900 This one just arrived today. Pretty nice! The blades are centered, with no wobble. Good snap, halfstops. No gaps between the scales & bolsters, & the liners are fitted tight. Blade opening is a little bit gritty, but I can live with that. I've been lucky with all four of my Queens, because I haven't had any of the QC issues that I've heard about.
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Nice looking Barlow! Flushing the joints by working in a little oil ought to clean out any loose grit. Enjoy!
 
PT, very nice! I have the same pair, one each user and SQ.

Ironbutt, I've been thinking about a Queen Barlow. Not having great sharpening skills I've held back given what I've read about they're often needing sharpening and even re-profiling. I have had luck with a WD40 flush followed by a compressed air blowout and then light lube oil.
 
Ironbut said:
This one just arrived today. Pretty nice! The blades are centered, with no wobble. Good snap, halfstops. No gaps between the scales & bolsters, & the liners are fitted tight. Blade opening is a little bit gritty, but I can live with that. I've been lucky with all four of my Queens, because I haven't had any of the QC issues that I've heard about.
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A nice version Ironbut, I like the look of the horn especially! I may need to put one of those on my wish list!

I very much agree with your comments on Queen's QC being quite now. I have been bitten by the Barlow bug a bit myself of late and have purchased a Queen #69 Work Horse in Delrin not long ago to replace my aged Camco 551. I am quite pleased with the Queen, and gave two as gifts at graduation time to my nephews. Both were quite nice in fit and finish, certainly better than a NOS Camco 551 I examined recently (to be fair the Camco line intentionally left out some finishing steps to hold down costs), and all three Queen Barlows I have examined closely are on about the same level in terms of QC as a NOS version of the Camillus #51 owned by a friend.
 
I guess I have been thinking about Grampas, past and present lately.
Seeing those knives reminds me of their namesake, gone many years now. RIP Stew!!
Nice examples, GuestWho101!!!
Thanks for showing them!
 
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