What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

This 1978 Case 6143 is a good, honest knife, but I still see it as two-faced.

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- Stuart
 
Stuart,
You could dye that pile side and maybe match it up. I saw a thread a while back where some of the forumites were using some sort of solution to darken stag and it looked great.

Burnt Stag
 
Burnt Stag said:
Stuart,
You could dye that pile side and maybe match it up. I saw a thread a while back where some of the forumites were using some sort of solution to darken stag and it looked great.

Burnt Stag
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Thanks for the suggestion (and your faith in my skills). I'm comfortable with and intrigued by the yin and yang of it, as is. I do have some other knives that could use some make-up, though.
- Stuart
 
Despite all the other knives I buy I'm still primarily a Barlow collector and of all the Barlows I collect I really prefer a real good Case red bone. There can be such a variety and depth of color to the bone that many knives are unique.
These 2 I just picked up are prime examples, one a Case XX from1940 to 1964 has a very nice brown hue to it with deep saw cut. The other, a XX USA from 1964 to 1969 has a great mottled color on the mark side,looks like a red sky before a major storm, both knives are close to mint with some age spots to the blades.


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Augie Augie Wow, those are beauties, alright. They set the standard. Thanks for showing them. (I posted a pair of Daddy Barlows on Tuesday - post# 16888 - that could be their poor country cousins.)
- Stuart
 
Duckdog said:
Augie Augie Wow, those are beauties, alright. They set the standard. Thanks for showing them. (I posted a pair of Daddy Barlows on Tuesday - post# 16888 - that could be their poor country cousins.)
- Stuart
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Thank you Stuart, nothing poor about those 2 Granddaddies you posted, beautiful knives and fine examples of why I like Case red bone so much.
 
This thread has become especially drool-worthy lately! And Stuart, even though I don't understand how a knife with covers so mismatched could ever be assembled, your big Barlow is amazingly compelling!
 
Augie said:
Despite all the other knives I buy I'm still primarily a Barlow collector and of all the Barlows I collect I really prefer a real good Case red bone. There can be such a variety and depth of color to the bone that many knives are unique.
These 2 I just picked up are prime examples, one a Case XX from1940 to 1964 has a very nice brown hue to it with deep saw cut. The other, a XX USA from 1964 to 1969 has a great mottled color on the mark side,looks like a red sky before a major storm, both knives are close to mint with some age spots to the blades.


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Augie, I have two Case saw cut bone Barlows from the same time periods as yours. You can tell both have been used, but they're both still tight, have great snap & the covers on both have a special character that I haven't seen in any newer Barlow offerings from any maker. I have some newer NF, TC, Queen, etc Barlows that seem to be well made, but sometimes I wonder what they're going to be like after 40-70 years of use, like those old Cases. You, me & most others here have "a few" knives to choose from when we walk out the door in the morning. Chances are that those old Case, Schrade, Kutmaster, etc Barlows were the only knife the owner had & they were most likely used for more than opening the mail.

At 70 years old, I guess I'm considered an opinionated old fart, but I'll take a nice, tight, well used Case XX Barlow any day over any of the new offerings.
 
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