Learning to spot a real Russell Barlow

[Dragunski]

Excellent primer on Russell Barlows.

I would like to point out that in the top picture, the bolsters actually look like they've been painted or coated with something. There are even traces of this paint in the crack and on the edge of the scale.

[Jacknifeben]

15 cent Russell barlow. Hope this is clear enough to read.

[jon_slider]

Here are a couple more Ebay knives.
Pop quiz, are they originals, or reproductions? Extra credit if you say how you can tell

[Dragunski]

Well, they both have the high center pin, if that's the criteria.

The bottom one looks like stainless, and does not appear to have sawcut handles. Seems to be smooth bone.

[jon_slider]

Well, they both have the high center pin, if that's the criteria.

The bottom one looks like stainless, and does not appear to have sawcut handles. Seems to be smooth bone.

Thanks for playing, spot the Russell, good eye

Yes rule 1 is violated in both knives. Rule 5 violation for the blue background knife.

Smooth bone is not a violation, per Miller Bros comment that smooth bone was a Russell factory option.


This thread
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 88#p348688

Has a picture of a long pull Russell.



It appears to be a curved tang stamp. That violates the Russell factory comment:
"The few long nail pulls Russell used on barlows were all pre 1890 and had the plain block letter horizontal "RUSSELL" tang stamp"

Here are 2 more long pull Russells with curved tang stamp.. The first one I cant see the center pin, the second one clearly shows the center pin is not in the middle of the handle, hence, not original Russell.

Notice also that the white handle Russell with long pull, has the same blade as the two below. Even though the white handle has the middle pin in center, I don't think the long pull blade is original Russell.





I wonder if the 2 long pull dark handled Russell's pictured above are Camillus contract built? See the Camillus #11 below. ( I can't explain the White one)


Camillus #11:

[just bob]

In the book about the Russell Cutlery Co the author goes into some detail about the Barlow Bearcats. This was a club formed by Russell Barlow owners and stories about the owners ran in the Louisville, KY Sunday paper in the 1950's. Dexter-Russell was ecstatic when they found out about this club and since so many of the old Barlow's were worn they came up with a special promotion for members. For $1.00 they would repair any members Russell Barlow knife to the best of their ability. They no longer made the knives but had some parts and some of the original craftsmen still worked for the company. There is no mention of how many knives were sent in but it is mentioned that the promotion was an overwhelming success. The club had over a thousand members. So here is my question to the purist. How do you really tell an original Russell Barlow? No doubt much of the production process had been improved and automated. I suspect many long pull blades were put into these knives with broken blades. Brass pins may have been used instead of steel. A few of the original Russell's are out there. My guess is as many as 75% of the Russell's you see on eBay are not original knives. Many of the altered knives you do see may have been repaired by the company. It's such a shame that many of the others are of poor quality workmanship. These knives for the most part bring $50 - $75. A sad state of affairs and many unwary collectors end up buying these.

[jon_slider]

> I suspect many long pull blades were put into these knives with broken blades.

Thanks for posting. What makes you think Russell had ANY long pull blades?

> Brass pins may have been used instead of steel.

Thanks. What basis do you have for this?

Pictures invited.

[just bob]

Because Russell stopped making the Barlow's in the 1930's and these knives were sent in for repair in the 1950's. In the 1930's many Russell Barlow knives had long pulls and also other D-R pocket knives had long pull blades in them that may have fit the Barlow with minor modification.My thoughts were that these were the left over parts referred to and not parts from the early 1900's. Many of the Russell's with the straight line tang stamp and broken blades were probably repaired with the newer, 1930's tang stamp, newer blade.
Also brass pins were used in the 1930's and so these were probably also used to repair the knives.We may never know the extent of these repairs. I have always thought a real tip off was quality of workmanship. Some of these knives that you see on eBay have very shoddy repairs.

[knives-are-quiet]

How old are these Barlows you are talking about?

I was told this Russell easy opener was made pre WWI.
It has long pulls. Although "match strike pulls"
Why wouldn't some Barlows have them also.

JW~

[just bob]

It seems as if the question is - what is an original Russell Barlow knife? I'm afraid we'll never be able to answer that question. In the book on the Russell Cutlery it says the first pocket jack knives were shown in Philadelphia in 1875 and from the original 50 styles soon increased to over 400 styles within a year. By 1877 50,000 dozen jack knives were sold. With variation of handles, rivets, blades, etc. many style could be produced. It also mentions there was sporadic production of pocket jack knives prior to 1875. Then in the same book they have a pictorial of the 1884 sales catalog. Here you can see the Barlow's pictured, but these are not the first to be made. The Barlow and the jack knife are close cousins. The major difference is the bolster on the Barlow. There are long pulls pictured in the jack knives but not in the Barlow's. Many people want to assume these 1884 knives are the original knives and that is just not the case at all. Mass production of these knives made it possible to put droves of these on the market.

If I am asked I would say I'm unsure what an original Russell Barlow looks like. I think for certain they would have the straight line Russell tang stamp and steel pins that have not been spun. I also think the originals may be slightly smaller. These were mass produced and sold for very little. Prior to WWI it is stated they sold for 15¢. Quality Control wasn't what it is now. Knives were crude tools to be used, not to be put in a box and polished once a year. The quality of the stell was the chief selling point. There are many, many regular Russell knives on Ebay with long pull blades in them. I would think the information is correct that Barlow's only had the long pull prior to 1890, but what about these older knives that were sent to Dexter-Russell in the 1950's for repair? We know they used parts they had on hand. It seems very likely to me that some parts from the folding knives that could be adapted to the Barlow may have been used. Who is to say specifically what? It pretty easy to fashion a replacement back spring from an existing one. It's also easy to fit a blade from another knife, especially if you work in a cutlery factory.

I think we're arguing over questions that don't have answers.

[jon_slider]

> There are many, many regular Russell knives on Ebay with long pull blades in them.

please post any photos you may have of Small Russell Barlows with Long Pulls.

> I would think the information is correct that Barlow's only had the long pull prior to 1890, but what about these older knives that were sent to Dexter-Russell in the 1950's for repair?

If a knife was rebuilt in the 50's with brass pins, long pull blades, or even with the spring pin not in the center, then these knives are not pre 1941 Original Small Russell Barlows. They are modified with modern parts. Please post any pictures of knives repaired in the 50's

I continue to look forward to seeing any other photos of long pull Small Russell Barlows, and will be hoping to see the spring pin in the center of the handle.

here is a review of some of the distinguishing features of Small Russell Barlow, and other variants with different tang stamps, blade styles, a couple of Big Daddy sizes, and possible dates of manufacture

1. Spring pivot pin centered on the handle
1a Straight tang stamp, pre 1933


1b Curved tang stamp, 1933 to 1941, This knife is certified genuine by Russell factory


the pin placement, and note not spun brass


The tang stamp, note the beginning of the arrow is under the S, not under the U


1c 1975 Commemorative, delrin handle scales, curved tang stamp, spun brass pins


2. Spring pivot pin is steel on pre 1941 Small Russell Barlows, spun brass on some newer reproductions and commemoratives.
2a pre 1933


2b 1933-1941


2c on 1975 Commemoratives, spring pivot pin is spun brass



3. Long Pull blade on Camillus style frame (Camillus spring pin is not in center of handle)




4. Matchstrike Long Pull on small Russell Barlow with correct Russell spring pin in center of handle. Note the tang stamp is not the same as the straight line stamp, nor the curved stamp. The long match strike pull tang stamp says Green River on it.


this is the Green River tang stamp on a match strike long pull Russell Jack Knife, believed from pre WW1


5. Commemorative set from 1998 with small and grand daddy barlow. Note the spun brass pin on the small Barlow.



and the tang stamp


6. German Grand Daddy Russel, note the Solingen stamp on the pile side of the blade



diamond shaped tang stamp


solingen stamp


Now for some discussion about 1933-1941 curved tang stamps
1. Genuine 1933-1941 stamp, note the beginning of the arrow is not under the U


2. Possibly not genuine 1933-1941 Small Russell Barlow tang stamp, on knives with incorrect spring pin location.
2a A knife with the spring pin not in center of handle, note the tang stamp arrow begins under the U


2b Another knife with the spring pivot not in center, and pin seems to be brass, again note tang stamp arrow begins under the U

[just bob]

Here are some of my Russell's. The first picture is a group in the knife case. The second pic is what I believe to be the rarest Russell I have. It has wood handles that have the ledge on them just like the saw cut bone. This is pattern #22 in the 1884 sales catalog and the handles are redwood. Very few of these survived. If you're out and about you will see many Russell Barlow's with wood handles but most are very poor repair jobs. Some of the Russell jack knives had ebony and cocoa wood. Third pic is a better view of the wooden knife, my long pull Barlow, and the animal castration Barlow. The castration knife is #603 in the sales catalog. The 4th pic is another view of these knives. I suspect the long pull knife has been put together from parts and is not genuine. 5th pic is of my knives like the one that has been previously posted and apparently they are on the Camillus frame. If someone put these together they surely did a slew of them. If you took one of these apart you should be able to see an extra hole either in the liner or the back spring I would think. I may try to look into this more. The 6th pic is of my saw back knives that were used to scale fish. Don't get there knives out often and am glad to show them. Don't know that my pictures answer any questions or not. One thing I have noticed is that on the older, straight line Barlow's the width at the point where the bolster meets the handle is about .535 to .555 on the knives I have checked. On the newer knives with the triangular Russell stamp this same point is about .640 to .655 on the knives I have checked. I think maybe the older knives are a tad smaller. Not sure I have all of the pics loaded or in the right order. I'll try to correct this once I see the post.

[just bob]

Here are the fish scaling knives. I just got Windows 8 and am pulling my hair out trying to figure things out. Sorry for the confusion!

[jon_slider]

Wow! Thanks for sharing your pictures just bob, fantastic collection!

Some very interesting variations, with several that have the spring pin closer to the bolster, including the top two in this pic:


those top two have the spring pin in the Camillus position, and appear to have spun brass pins. On those two the tang stamp arrow feathers are under the U, not under the S.

> If someone put these together they surely did a slew of them.

I agree, they may even have been built under a Camillus contract for Russell. Those are obviously old knives, there must be some story to why so many "Russells" have Camillus style frames.

Your photo of the redwood handled knife is excellent! and your castration knife is a first Ive seen:

The middle knife with the long pull has a very unusual tang stamp, blade kick, and blade shape, I have not seen before.

> I suspect the long pull knife has been put together from parts and is not genuine.

I agree, but it is still a very interesting knife. Thanks for sharing your photos and your collection. They are beautiful, and very helpful to my education.

And what a great photo of your knife roll!

On the left half, second row, the middle knife has the Camillus position spring pin. And on the bottom row I think I see 4 knives with Camillus style pins. Then on the right half, there is one on the top row, second from right also has the Camillus pin position.

If you are inclined to, I would be curious to see the tang stamps on the knives with Camillus pin positions. And it would also help to see a photo of any curved tang stamps on your Russells with the centered steel pin, that we believe are originally from 1933-1941.

For example, the Small Barlow in this fish knife photo,

looks to have a curved tang stamp, could you show it in a bit more detail please? That is a very good looking full blade. My impression is that it is genuine.

If any of your Russell's have clip blades, I would be interested in seeing them open to the half way point as well. Im hoping to see tang stamps on any Small Russell Barlow clip blade you may have.

I am very grateful for your time and contributions, thanks!

--

Here is a collection belonging to upnorth posted elsewhere
"The second one is a bit worn, and the bottom one is a Camillus reproduction."


note upnorth's mention of Camillus as the maker of the bottom knife, this time with the spring pin in center, but spun brass


I also notice his 3rd one down has a blade very similar to just bob in the fish knife photo. Does your blade have the swedge like his, forward of the nail nick?

[just bob]

a few more pics. The Russell with the brain handles is probably my favorite knife. It walks & talks as good as it looks.

[jon_slider]

Wow just bob
very generous of you to take the time to post all your photos, thanks!

just to focus on the long pulls in your photos, this one

has the spring pin in the Camillus position, the pivot pin for the blade is not in the correct position for an original russel, it is too far forward of the arrow head on the bolster, and the tang stamp arrow starts under the U, which is wrong, it should start under the S in an original.

There are also German tang stamps that do start the arrow under the S, but this is not one of them. In any case, its a nice long pull knife, just not a pre 1941 Russell, imho.

These long pulls are also very interesting

the spear point one has a tang stamp with no arrow, instead a pair of diamonds on either side of the R. I have not seen that tang stamp on any genuine curved tang stamp Russells. I do see a match to that tag stamp on this 1998 commemorative set:


The long match strike Jack with the straight tang stamp is interesting too, do you consider it to be genuine? The tang stamp on the match strike does not match the catalog photo Miller Bros posted, which shows a Green River stamp, like this one you posted earlier, which I have no doubt is genuine


In any case, so far I have yet to see a long pull, non match strike, genuine pre 1941 Russell, neither with curved tang stamp, nor with straight line stamp. Either the spring pin is not in the center, or the tang stamp is unusual, or the blade pin is in the wrong spot in relation to the bolster arrow…

Thanks for the great photos!

[jon_slider]

Here are a few more Russells off the Bay. None of these following knives are what I would call Genuine.

First a long pull Clip blade that has the spring pin correctly in the middle, and the pin is steel, not spun brass, which is correct. The only thing unusual is the tang stamp, it has an R with Diamonds on the sides, not an arrow through it, plus it is stamped Green River. The tang stamp is neither a straight Russell stamp from pre 1933, nor is it the typical curved stamp of the 1933-1941 era. And the blade is a long pull, which so far has not been demonstrated to exist on any Russel with the steel pin in the center of the handle, and a correct tang stamp and bolster.




Next is a Russell with the spring pin not in center, and the pin is spun brass




Below is a Russell with not only the middle spring pin not in center of the handle, the pin at the bare head end of the handle is not in the middle. This is the first Russel I have seen with this pin configuration. The arrow head is non standard on the bolster, because it is a complete triangle, instead of just 2 lines.

[jon_slider]

There is a new listing on the bay for this Russell Clip Long Pull

Look at the diamonds on either side of the R on the tang stamp. Those Diamonds are also on the Colonial made Russells from 1998, not on the original 1933-41 Russells.





Next below is a 1998 Russell Barlow Limited Edition 2 knife display set made by Colonial. There was a small single blade and a grand daddy single blade barlow in each set, choice of dyed bone or stag.
Note the Diamonds on the tang stamp.





And next below, Here is a 1934-1941 Russell tang stamp, confirmed genuine by the factory



Next is the tang stamp of the Russell Commemorative with Delrin handle scales made by Schrade in 1974.




Here by the way is Schrades Grand-Dads Barlow (1973-2004), which as you can see is basically identical to their 1875-1975 Russell Commemorative. They share the same blades, same delrin scales, same handle pin positions. It appears only the blade etch, tang stamp, and bolster were changed.



next here is some info google turned up on a search re German Russells:

---
The German Barlows are correct as to the feather stamping (3) on the bolsters. According to Lavona Ferguson, Romance of Collecting Cattaraugus Robeson Russell Queen Knives, six patterns were introduced in 1971. They had country of origin, Germany, stenciled on the tang, which could be erased with a mechanical eraser. Some times they have been aged artificially.

I think one difference is that the German ones have spun rivets and the originals have hammered rivets.

She also mentions a higher quality German Russell Barlow introduced in 1967, pattern 62, with Germany stamped on the tang.

She states that Russell Harrington notified the distributors to stop using the Russell Trademark.
---

Here is a photo of a German Russell tang stamp, I dont know what year.



In the next photo, note the pin on the barehead end is closer to the spine of the blade. And the center pin is not in the middle of the handle.



The above knife also has a non original bolster, it lacks the base ring.

Here is another German Russell, box marked Green River Works. Obviously not original Russell. The tang stamp is wrong, the pile side of the blade is stamped Solingen Germany, the bolster has no ring, and the R with arrow is wrong, too many feathers, and the handle pins are in the wrong position, middle pin is not centered, and the handle material is wrong, not bone, possibly delrin imitation stag.





I would also be interested in seeing any other photos of German Russells, including tang stamps, if anyone has some. Thanks!

btw here is a reference photo for a pre 1933 long pull spear bladed Russell (non barlow). Note the straight tang stamp, not curved. It is currently in the AAPK store.

[jon_slider]

A bit more info about these 1998 sets


from
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... here/page2
---
Here's some info on the 1998 versions made by Colonial based on info from my source at Dexter-Russell.

The blades are 440A.

As Colonial was in financial difficulty when they produced the barlows, the blades were stamped by Dexter-Russell using their own steel from AK Steel in Coshocton ,Ohio. They (Dexter-Russell) also supplied the steel for and stamped the springs.
---

[Mossdancer]

As I do not collect Russell folder here are some photo's that may be of interest.
moss

[jon_slider]

thanks for the interesting book exerpts

a couple of highlights from the reading

Tom Sawyer was published in 1875. The first Russell Barlow was made a year later, in 1876, so Mark Twains reference to a Barlow is not about a Russell. Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884, where a barlow is mentioned again, that one could be a Russell.

The fourth photo references Russell Stainless, which I imagine is in reference to the 1998 set built by Colonial using 440A steel from Dexter-Russell

The second to last photo, has a knife in the top right corner that does not have the spring pin in the center of the handle. It appears to have Camillus style pin positions. It is not a catalog picture, but presumably a knife the book authors mistakenly took to be genuine.

There is a lot of misinformation on Russell Barlows online, there is even a repeated account, quoted at some Cutlery vendor sites, that the first Russell Barlow was made in 1785, about 101 years too early.

I continue to consider the position of the middle pin in the center of the handle, an important trait of a genuine Russell Barlow.

Not only do many supposed Russell Barlows not have the middle pin in the center, there are also some Russells that have the pin at the bare end closer to the spine, like this Boker configuration:


that looks a little like the pin pattern in this knife, which I do not consider genuine, based on the position of the middle pin not in center, and the barehead end pin, closer to the spine, not centered.


here again is one more non genuine Russell, look how the pins are not centered at the bare end, nor in the middle of the handle. I dont know who made it, but it is stamped Germany on the pen tang. I would guess its Boker made


here is a bit more Russell info from another site

[QUOTE=ptradeco;12572270]This from one of our more distinguished knife historians, John E. Goins, 1972.




[/QUOTE]


Im pretty sure now, that Russell did not make a long pull blade with a curved stamp.. quoted from the above text:
---
The second of the German made Russells was produced in 1971, and is supposed to be an exact copy of the original. Fortunately it is not. There are several ways to tell this model from the original and after studying the differences even a beginner should be able to tell the difference. The appearance of this knife suggests Eye brand probably made this knife also.

This (German) knife is marked with an ink stamp across the blade, and Russell (curved) R and arrow on the tangs. This knife was produced in both one and two blade knives, with spear and clip master blades. The clip blade has a long pull and can be recognized as German by this, as the original Russell clip blade has the same pull as the spear blade.
---

Here is an example of a German Russell with long pull spear


on this page
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... &start=105 is a picture of a long pull Russell. Notice the middle pin is not in the center of the handle, but rather in the position that Camillus uses. I suspect Russell subcontracted to Camillus during the Roaring 20s, pure conjecture on the timeframe. I was told by Dexter-Russell that Russell did sub to Camillus, I just don't know the date accurately.





here is a Camillus made Tip Top with a possibly similar long pull clip blade, notice the spring pin closer to the bolster



one more Tip Top, more clearly showing what Im calling the Camillus pin position



disclaimer, everything I post is my opinion, I am in no way an expert. This information is intended to invite discussion and increase my education. I hope it is accurate, and helps others. I do try to back up my opinions with some form of corroboration, in the form of a reference link and photo. Please add any information that can help me learn more.

[jon_slider]

russel history
some interesting reading links
http://industrialhistory.org/histories/ ... l-cutlery/
http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/Edson/barlowknife.html
http://www.collectorbooks.com/pdf/items/7035.pdf
http://www.iknifecollector.com/profiles ... fool-s-day
Most of you know that Russell -Harrington repaied barlow's for members of their Barlow Bearcats Club that was initially formed by a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal Newspaper.  Any blade that Russell replaced on these knives was marked with the etching SECOND. 
The Tang of the Russell, laid out as:
           RUSSELL in a half-circle over
               <>R<>  over
                U.S.A.


Historical context of the Russell Barlow knife:

1797 John Russell born in Greenfield
1873 John Russell Cutlery Company formed, headed by Richard N. Oakman, Jr.
1874 John Russell dies in Greenfield
1876 Russell Barlow prototype introduced, using the straight line tang stamp RUSSELL
1890 W. P. Dustin becomes head of Russell Cutlery Co.
1914 to 1918 ww 1
1920 Prohibition
1920 Womens right to vote
1929 begin great depression
1933 End of Prohibition
1933 Russell merges with Harrington, begins using the Curved Russell tang stamp with Arrow thru the R
1941 End great depression, Pearl Harbor, US enters World War 2
1941 Russell Harrington stops making the Russell Barlow.
1945 US drops atomic bombs on Japan, end of World War 2
1950s Russell Harrington repairs barlows for members of the Barlow Bearcats, using a tang stamp with diamonds on each side of the R, instead of an arrow
1968 Colonial builds a Commemorative Russel Barlow set for Dexter-Russel, tang stamp had diamonds on both sides of the R
1971 German replica Russells appear, curved tang stamp has arrow through the R, some have long pull blades
1974 Schrade issues a Russell commemorative with Delrin scales, same knife as the scrolled bolster Schrade 206

[jon_slider]

I just went through all 20 pages of this Barlow thread and pulled any Russell photos, including some of the long pulls 2 posts up.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =35&t=2822

And also this 18 page thread of more Barlows than you can shake a stick at
http://allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_f ... =2&t=11913

Here is a Boker and a German Russell with smooth no ring bolster.



I would say Boker made the smooth bolster Russell Barlows that have the Bolster arrow with more than 3 feathers.



A little more about possible sources of Long Pull blades on Russells that dont have the centered middle pin. The long pull ending up against the tang, on this Schrade, is the closest resemblance Ive found, to the ones on the Russells with long pulls.



look how the long pull runs right into the tang on this Russell with uncentered middle pin

[Dragunski]

I'm still waiting for you to find a picture of a Sheffield Joseph Barlow, showing the original one-bolster, barehead design, without the handle shape that we now know and love. I've only ever seen a catalog, hand drawn image.

[Dragunski]

...or is it Samuel Barlow...I forget.