What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

Augie said:
Duncan, pair of very nice grand daddies, love the bone on this one.


I added a few more old ones, a pocket worn Case XX and a Clauss, the Clauss is a little unusual in that it appears to be Utica made instead of the usual Case made knives. Charlie, if I remember right didn't you once say that Utica made some contract knives for Case? I wonder about a Case, Clauss, Utica connection.

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Nice find, Augie!!
I'm going to have to find a private investigator who will find out where you get all these Gems!!
Utica subcontracted many knives over the years, for anyone who would come up with the cash!!
 
Charlie- I will split the fees of that P.I
This has to stop.
:D

I haven’t seen a Clauss with those styled Bolsters my friend - what a pair of nice old Barlow’s!

I have a couple of Clauss knives that are without a doubt Case, looking at them immediately you think “Case”- but that great old example I would not know.
 
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First run ebony finds its way into my watch pocket a good bit these days. Something about the earlier ones feel tighter to me, from the pins to the transitions and chamfering of the scales, its just a solid little knife and has that old world tool quality about it.

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Superb photo Chris. At the risk of sparking a long and fractious debate, I’d have to agree that there is something about the earlier run TCs that sets them apart. The snap and finish are generally second to none for a production knife. That said, the fit and finish on the very recent 14 TC ebony and smooth white is pretty darn good. Here’s a photo of two of my well worn TCs from the 2013 and 2014 runs. I would say that of all my TCs, the walnut clip is the best in terms of tightness, snap and finish. Just a superb little knife. It was also my first TC. I distinctly remember removing the wax paper and being struck by how small it was/is. Literally only a mm or two longer than a credit card! Have always thought it a privilege to own one let alone several. Always enjoy seeing others’ pictures and hearing their stories. Best to all. MJ.
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Hi everyone. I have a question about the Ancient Barlow I recently bought, and i guess this would be the best place to ask?

I have been looking at the photos of the lovely old barlows throughout this thread and comparing them to the Ancient Barlow I recently bought. I have been wondering if there are examples of old Barlow’s that, when new, would have been sold with heat-treat scale on the bolsters like has been done with the Ancient Barlow? I ask because I noticed that some of the other things that make the GEC knives “ancient” seems to be related to cost saving measures in the manufacturing of the historical knives (tool marks on the pins, unpolished handle scales). Is skipping the step of polishing scale off the bolsters something that was done historically?


By the way, after years of lurking I think this might be my first time actually participating in a conversation!
 
goutwort said:
Hi everyone. I have a question about the Ancient Barlow I recently bought, and i guess this would be the best place to ask?

I have been looking at the photos of the lovely old barlows throughout this thread and comparing them to the Ancient Barlow I recently bought. I have been wondering if there are examples of old Barlow’s that, when new, would have been sold with heat-treat scale on the bolsters like has been done with the Ancient Barlow? I ask because I noticed that some of the other things that make the GEC knives “ancient” seems to be related to cost saving measures in the manufacturing of the historical knives (tool marks on the pins, unpolished handle scales). Is skipping the step of polishing scale off the bolsters something that was done historically?


By the way, after years of lurking I think this might be my first time actually participating in a conversation!
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Welcome Goutwort and glad you decided to start participating, we love talking knives and making friends.

Charlie will be the best person to answer your questions but generally yes the old pre 1900 Barlows were finished to a lesser degree than other knives. The original Sheffield Barlows could be quite crude but that very lack of refinement is what makes them so appealing to me. This example of a Sheffield Barlow has been lightly used so it is a good example of what I am trying to describe, it now sits in Charlies collection, you can see a rough finish to the bolster and the blade shape used in the latest Ancient.

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The early American made Barlows like the Russell are finished a little more but they were still rougher than other patterns of pocket knives, they were mad to be tough and cheap, a working mans knife so to say. The early Russell spear also has the Ancient profile.


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Augie said:
Welcome Goutwort and glad you decided to start participating, we love talking knives and making friends.

Charlie will be the best person to answer your questions but generally yes the old pre 1900 Barlows were finished to a lesser degree than other knives. The original Sheffield Barlows could be quite crude but that very lack of refinement is what makes them so appealing to me. This example of a Sheffield Barlow has been lightly used so it is a good example of what I am trying to describe, it now sits in Charlies collection, you can see a rough finish to the bolster and the blade shape used in the latest Ancient.

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The early American made Barlows like the Russell are finished a little more but they were still rougher than other patterns of pocket knives, they were mad to be tough and cheap, a working mans knife so to say. The early Russell spear also has the Ancient profile.


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Nice set of images to compare the essentially hand wrought Sheffield style with the Russell steam powered mass production style.
 
G goutwort - go back and look at post #16950 for a bunch of old barlows that Charlie posted. These were inspirations for both ancient tc barlows.
 
Ended up with two of the recent Ancient TC runs and decided to polish up the bolsters on one of them. Love the blade shape, saw cut covers and rough finish pins. Although the bolsters straight from the factory on the original version are very cool, my personal preference is for the polished version. If GEC could have been able to use the same CC stamp on the blade as opposed to the etch, like the last run, that would have been truly awesome. It was one of my favorite features on that first run. Either way, its one of my most carried single blades and surprisingly thinner, if just by a hair, then my ebony TC clip.
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Augie said:
Welcome Goutwort and glad you decided to start participating, we love talking knives and making friends.

Charlie will be the best person to answer your questions but generally yes the old pre 1900 Barlows were finished to a lesser degree than other knives. The original Sheffield Barlows could be quite crude but that very lack of refinement is what makes them so appealing to me. This example of a Sheffield Barlow has been lightly used so it is a good example of what I am trying to describe, it now sits in Charlies collection, you can see a rough finish to the bolster and the blade shape used in the latest Ancient.

View attachment 1038324


The early American made Barlows like the Russell are finished a little more but they were still rougher than other patterns of pocket knives, they were mad to be tough and cheap, a working mans knife so to say. The early Russell spear also has the Ancient profile.


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Thanks for the reply Augie. Great info and photos!
 
The Fort said:
I have to tell you, this knife is really well built. The blades are tight, and snap like a gator. I love finding a great knife, that I wasn’t even looking for. It cost me all of $10.00!
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Great score Lance and I too love these particular barlows. Super well built and especially attractive.
 
r8shell said:
Very nice! Boker Barlows have one of my favorite bolster stamps, and are just so solidly good. :cool::thumbsup:
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Thanks Rachel! A recently posted picture of yours is what made me take notice of it this morning. Then the guy said $10.00, what choice did I have? :rolleyes:;):p
 
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