The Venerable Old Barlow

[dcgm4]

Really nice Craftsman, John.

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys, Thought I would post this RARE knife before it gets away from me, lol.
One of the oldest and Coolest Barlow's I have ever owned to date!!! Truly Amazing find. Exhausting trying to do The correct research because when we find our OWN Mistakes,,,We MUST own up too them, in front of Everyone which makes us/me look like a fool. After owning this knife,,,I must declare my Mistake on a Previous Post!!! Its true Unfortunately,,,So sorry guys.

Here is my BIG Mistake,,,In my other LONG Posting(Page#38), I mentioned "Wrong way Z's" Unfortunately I was the Wrong Z, lmao. I just caught my error this morning. Why didnt you guys say anything??? I will have to go back and Fix them "Wrong way Z's". I will also Point out,,,This CORRECT "Z" trademark knife has INTEGRAL Bolsters and Liners like it should have for such a Super old knife, Right((((So my posting on the 5" Purple background Barlow has the Wrong way Z with No integral bolsters & liners and it was a 5" knife,,,also Mr. Goins Book Lists the Correct "Z" Barlow for Sam'L knives for which was 3 1/4" closed regular size knife))). We of course still dont know All the truth behind these different trademarks BUT we are getting closer.

What I would like to share with Everyone with this particular Barlow is its SIZE. Its about 4 1/8" closed. That is a very Unusual Size(1st I have seen anyways) BUT it makes TOTAL sense in that these EARLY Sheffield Pieces were SMALLER back in the day. For example Most of the Sam'L, Furness, Etc Regular sized Barlows were 3" or 3 1/4" closed and sometimes smaller than 3". So this was there DADDY Sized back in the day,,,Coool huh,,you gotta remember they were use to that Quill Sized 3" to begin with.

I also want to point out the Blade profile difference in this Early Sam'L vs My Spear blade 5" Wrong way Z Purple background knife(Pg# 38).
I do believe Some of the MAJOR Key Components like(Integral Bolsters & Liners, BAR-LOW tang stamp, Size and Blade Profile) are all very important Factors. You remember me saying,,,Some folks say the wrong way "Z" was a trademark by Henry Mills an Ancestor of Samuel from 1851-1881,,,starting to look pretty True to me. Just thinking out-loud. I need more examples and I will furthermore get closer to the Truth behind these "Wrong way Z's". Everyone's input is appreciated.

One more FACTOR with this Particular Blade Profile is that it CLOSELY resembles the Early Quill Pen knives from that Time Period of 1700's to the 1820's AND from the Barlows found on the "1816 Smiths Key". Interesting??
Kind Regards & Blessings my friends,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys, This is for those who have not had the opportunity to Read this article from c1983. Shows some RARE Barlows that are NOT Pictured anywhere else that I have found, Mr. Levine talking in this article. If you notice that Quill knife((Looks like it says "Barlow" out on the blade)). The Bottom "Barlow" stamped on tang,,,has that "quill blade" curved handle and Extended bolster. Last but certainly not least are the Frary Barlow's and Frary Knives.
Kind Regards
Mark

[JohnR]

Mark, that is a wonderful old Barlow, has everything going for it and a very unusual size, love it. The blade profile is similar to one Charlie used for his ancient TC Barlow.

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys, for the Barlow Lover!! A Daddy Sized Jonathon Crooks w/ Heart & Pistol on bolster. Only the 2nd one I had ever seen, So thought I would post.
Kind Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Hey John, yes it is Sir and Many thanks for the Compliments!!! By the way, I LOVE that TC bolster stamp and Your KILLER Furness with Blade etch.
Kind Regards,
Mark

[JohnR]

Here is an unusual one, a 2 blade mini Barlow with a one arm blade, 2 5/8". Made for the FA Bower Company in Germany. These small Barlows are not that common, Schrade did make some but I can't recall ever seeing one with the one arm blade. Pic shows a comparison to a TC 14 Barlow which is a small Barlow itself.

[ratlesnake75]

Holy Cow John, That is too sweet my friend!!! And I completely agree that the SIZE is what matters,,,,lmao
Super Rare too see such a small barlow,,,Totally awesome knife
If I may, I had a Miniature barlow last month by Eders Germany and it was about 2 3/4" closed,,,With an attached Bail!! Weird huh,,,,I am sure it was for Keychains
Kind Regards,
Mark

[Tsar Bomba]

What I would like to share with Everyone with this particular Barlow is its SIZE. Its about 4 1/8" closed. That is a very Unusual Size(1st I have seen anyways) BUT it makes TOTAL sense in that these EARLY Sheffield Pieces were SMALLER back in the day.

I think at one point there was a "middle" size between the "standard" medium Barlow and the granddaddy 4.75"+ frames. I've seen a couple photos of those mid-range models and I lucked across one about a year ago. At the time I thought I might be overpaying slightly but looking back on it I think I made out like a bandit. It's a Dixon Cutlery "XTRA" Barlow, pictured here next to a "standard" or medium Russell Barlow for size comparison.

I also have an old Barlow of this same approximate size from Lafayette Cutlery in Germany, shown here next to a smallish Furness Barlow which almost exactly matches the closed length of the GEC #14.

Judging by the bone and hammered pins on both knives, I guesstimate them to be from 1920s-1930s, give or take a decade. They are both approximately 4⅛-4¼" in length closed. Maybe this "large" size of Barlow fell by the wayside as people realized having a small, medium and granddaddy size was probably enough -- seems like even the small ones might be falling out of favor in the larger scheme of traditional folding knives...

[ratlesnake75]

Mr. Tsar, Wonderful X-Tra Barlow you have,,,,Super Rare indeed Sir. LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!! I never seen one and I appreciate your post immensely
Kind Regards,
Mark

[J1890]

You guys are killing me with these old barlows. Sweet collections.
I have got to set my priorities on collecting.
Keep the pictures coming!

[Brumbydownunder]

Since I started using the "Quick Links" ... 'New Posts' link I am discovering more & more sub threads I haven't visited before... such as this one

Derek

[#goldpan]

There are sure a lot of really cool Barlows posted here! I have about half of my Barlow collection still. Had to sell the rest. In my pile of knives I pulled out a few that would show the range in size and shape of my favorite frame. These are not all of my Barlows. Just the ones that were easy to find. The longest is 5 inches closed and the smallest comes in at 2 inches.

[LongBlade]

What a super showing of barrows above by all ...

Not sure what you did sell Randy but you still have quite a nice collection showing a real variety of that pattern

[danno50]

Nice batch of barlows, Randy, and as Lee said, very nice variety of size and style represented!
Dan

[edge213]

Remingtons

[edge213]

Blue Grass

[edge213]

Colonel Coon

[edge213]

Hibbard Spencer Bartlett & Co. O.V.B. one arm man.

[edge213]

Robeson

[#goldpan]

David those are some fine examples of classic Balows!

[edge213]

Thanks Randy.

[glennbad]

Here's a sheepfoot Ulster

And a Wostenholm

[deltaboy]

I always return to carrying a Barlow and a Stockman

[bigbore]

Some blade shapes