What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

dovidola said:
Got my first ever GEC Barlow today - the Sepia #15. I'm not wanting to speak out of turn as I'm new to this, but it's the only GEC (of 26 in total) I have where the spring is not flush when fully open (it's a bit raised - perfectly flush when closed though), there's a little bit of gapping between spring and liner, one of the covers is a bit nibbled where it meets the bolster, and the pull is somewhat on the weak side (3-4). Put alongside my other #15, a Tidi Micarta Huckie Boys, the F&F on the Barlow looks rather shoddy, dare I say more reminiscent of Case's current offerings. Loving my first feel of GEC's Barlow bolsters though...
Maybe it's the hype and prices surrounding GEC Barlows, but I'd been expecting the usual GEC excellent level of F&F, particularly from a prestigious SFO.
My questions to those here who have Barlow experience: Is this typical or have I just been unlucky? Is it a Barlow 'thing' or just this particular run? Anything I can do to adjust the spring to sit flush when open (the only flaw which really irritates me)?
Apologies but I'm still trying to work out how to post photos.
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Mine seems pretty nice. I haven’t noticed any issues. I plan to use mine, so I don’t scrutinize every little detail, but fit and finish and walk and talk are good on mine. The pull seems good to me, somewhat strong but not too strong. I didn’t see any gaps or notice a proud spring. I guess the one thing I could say is that the covers are maybe a little rustic, but I think that in the spirit of the design of the knife. Similar to the covers on the last ancient Barlow. They still fit nicely on the knife. I feel like the 15 pattern is one that GEC really has dialed in as far as spring strength, fit and finish, etc.
 
r8shell said:
The blades don't look bad from this angle. How badly ground are they?
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There's still some blade left, but a bench grinder did a number on them...
I didn't buy it to use and certainly not for any kind of value. I bought it because it looks so pretty sitting in my knife cabinet and that's worth every penny of the $20.00 I paid for it. It makes me smile. :)
 
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r8shell said:
That's a nice collection of Tip Tops! They hardly look used at all.
I've got one:
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Blond bone is my favorite handle for vintage Barlows.
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The blades don't look bad from this angle. How badly ground are they?
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Exceptional old SEO&S my friend . What is the closed length of it ??? I have 2 of them . One that is 2 &7/8 inch and one that is 3 &3/8 inch . Both have Integral Bolsters . Happy to see your's r8shell r8shell

Harry
 
JohnDF said:
There's still some blade left, but a bench grinder did a number on them...
I didn't buy it to use and certainly not for any kind of value. I bought it because it looks so pretty sitting in my knife cabinet and that's worth every penny of the $20.00 I paid for it. It makes me smile. :)
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That does not look as bad as you made it sound John . It would appear that it may be a later model Russell with the curved RUSSEL on the tang stamp .
The earlier ones had a straight line RUSSELL . I think the price was a good deal .
This photo shows my first Russell ( with the broken tip ) and the last one .

Early RUSSELL tang stamp .

One Bolster is a Double Strike


Harry
 
Got this the other day, meant to post pictures but it’s been a little crazy around here lately! I’m not overly picky on most knives, I can live with some flaws. But, when it comes to special or expensive knives, I don’t want gaps, blade play, or bad transitions, springs that aren’t flush in the open and closed positions (don’t care about the half stop position), or poor W&T. So when I was seeing some of those things mentioned in posts about this knife, and remembering how bad my plum 74 was, I was a little nervous. So, when I finally got it, I checked everything, I looked hard, I even used the magnifying feature on my phone, and let me tell you, this thing is as close to perfect as any GEC I own. And I have several 86s and a couple 23s, which I personally think are some of the best in regards to F&F, lately anyway. I did need to flush it a few times, but now, forget about walk and talk, this thing runs and sings! Super excited to own this knife!
View attachment 1496240 View attachment 1496241
 
bigfish64 said:
Got this the other day, meant to post pictures but it’s been a little crazy around here lately! I’m not overly picky on most knives, I can live with some flaws. But, when it comes to special or expensive knives, I don’t want gaps, blade play, or bad transitions, springs that aren’t flush in the open and closed positions (don’t care about the half stop position), or poor W&T. So when I was seeing some of those things mentioned in posts about this knife, and remembering how bad my plum 74 was, I was a little nervous. So, when I finally got it, I checked everything, I looked hard, I even used the magnifying feature on my phone, and let me tell you, this thing is as close to perfect as any GEC I own. And I have several 86s and a couple 23s, which I personally think are some of the best in regards to F&F, lately anyway. I did need to flush it a few times, but now, forget about walk and talk, this thing runs and sings! Super excited to own this knife!
View attachment 1496240 View attachment 1496241
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Really good color and lots of character on that one :thumbsup:
 
Pàdruig said:
I've been eyeballing a couple of Daddy Barlows - I might just pull the trigger on one or two. It helps that the demand is not as high. If I enjoy using the large Coke Bottle pattern, I suspect the Daddy Barlow will be a good fit.
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Here is a small sample of what may be out there my friend .

Comparison of the Case to the Colonial Russell Repro , Case is the bottom one .

Comparison of Northfield 97 to the Grand Daddys . Bolster Length is not quite long enough to call it a Grand Daddy


Harry
 
Old Engineer said:
Exceptional old SEO&S my friend . What is the closed length of it ??? I have 2 of them . One that is 2 &7/8 inch and one that is 3 &3/8 inch . Both have Integral Bolsters . Happy to see your's r8shell r8shell

Harry
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Thank you. It's a hair over 3 inches, maybe by 1/16th, and I believe the bolsters are integral, too.
vNX1LNT.jpg

olWxyYf.jpg
 
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