What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

[Viper84]

I got this one in recently. It has some nice contrasting color on the bone, but I was disappointed that the blade is not centered, and I have to push the blade more than half of the way past the half stop in order to get it to close. So it doesn't have a strong snap when closing. I wonder, is the blade centering and weak snap something that can be fixed?

 

[Jack Black]

Outstanding Sheepfoot, Jack Black !!

Thanks Charlie, I love every one of your knives

Looking good, Jack.

Thanks Barrett I'd forgotten how fast this thread moved!

 

[r8shell]

Here's where my collection stands at the moment! I gifted the Olive Wood, and had to send back the Stag. I'm still hunting for the Walnut, and I'll probably give in and try to find a Smooth Yellow Bone. Other than that, I think I have them all (I guess there are the dyed curly birch versions too).

Top row, left to right: Two bladed Brown Washboard Bone, Whisky Barrel Oak, Brown Canvas Micarta, Plum Wood, Smooth White Bone, Grenadil (African Blackwood).
Bottom row, left to right: Brown Washboard Bone, Oak reclaimed from Burg Castle, Green Canvas Micarta/Brass, Desert Ironwood, Curly Birch, Bog Oak.
Far right is an older two bladed, Boker "Farm boy" Barlow with rosewood covers that I purchased here on the forums. The steel on all of these is either 440C, O1, or C75.

Yea, the brown washboard is great too! I actually purchased the two blade version before I knew the exclusives from you know where existed. Had to grab the single bladed, brown washboard version too when I found out about it, lol. I'm not the biggest fan of yellow bone, but I'm kind of kicking myself for not grabbing it when it was available. I saw some pics from another forum member recently and it's pretty gorgeous. I keep going back and forth on picking up another stag version. On one hand, I kind of want to complete the collection... But on the other, I've never really been much of a stag fan for whatever reason.

That's quite a Boker Barlow collection! Is it a trick of the camera, or is the two blader on the right curved and larger than the others? I've never seen a Boker like that, very cool!

While they are all fine Barlows, I've realized it's the bolster stamp that really draws me to the pattern.

 

[JohnDF]

Nice collection of Boker Barlow knives.
I think the Plum Wood is my favorite of your bunch.

Wonderful Trio of Barlows right there.

 

[r8shell]

Wonderful Trio of Barlows right there.

Thanks! That's my "Blonde, brunette, & Redhead" trio.

 

[JohnDF]

That's my "Blonde, brunette, & Redhead" trio

Lol... that's perfect.

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

That's quite a Boker Barlow collection! Is it a trick of the camera, or is the two blader on the right curved and larger than the others? I've never seen a Boker like that, very cool!

While they are all fine Barlows, I've realized it's the bolster stamp that really draws me to the pattern.

As awesome looking as the new ones are,I also wish they'd go back to the bolster stamp

I'd particularly would like to see the bronze one without the shield and the old stamp.
Nice trio you got there btw

 

[JOELSM]

*Edit - original post in wrong thread. Barlow related content added

 

[Fixall]

That's quite a Boker Barlow collection! Is it a trick of the camera, or is the two blader on the right curved and larger than the others? I've never seen a Boker like that, very cool!

Good eye! It is indeed a bit bigger and has a bit of a swayback to it. I'll post a pic or two of just that knife when I get home from work tonight.

Nice collection of Boker Barlow knives.
I think the Plum Wood is my favorite of your bunch.

Thanks! I really like the Plum barlow too! Boker made it with the intention of both the blade (c75 high carbon steel) AND the covers showing their age. I guess Plum darkens a lot with age/UV exposure. Kind of cool.

 

[Un-Chained]

Just snagged this, really nice all round.

 

[r8shell]

As awesome looking as the new ones are,I also wish they'd go back to the bolster stamp

I'd particularly would like to see the bronze one without the shield and the old stamp.
Nice trio you got there btw

You've got a cool trio there, too.

Good eye! It is indeed a bit bigger and has a bit of a swayback to it. I'll post a pic or two of just that knife when I get home from work tonight.

 

[Fixall]

Here ya are r8shell . I threw in Boker's updated, smaller two-bladed barlow and a #15 TC as a size comparison in the last shot. The Farm Boy was made back in 1983. I think it's a pretty great pattern.

 

[Pt-Luso]

 

[knowtracks]

Don't know if I have posted these in this thread before.
If I have you can sentence me to the old Cheech & Chong judge command...... Bailiff, Whack his pee-pee!






Dave

 

[Un-Chained]

Beauties Dave !
Enjoy in the greatest of health.

Cheers,
Gus

 

[knowtracks]

Thank You Gus!


Dave

 

[JOELSM]

This one looks better the more it’s used.

 

[Pàdruig]

All this talk of Boker Barlows and such - I had to go and pull mine out.

It's an older one. I definitely prefer the old bolster stamps myself. I wish they still did that instead of putting shields on them like they have done more recently.

 

[Fixall]

I'm really enjoying seeing all of these Boker barlows come out of the woodwork! The Solingen factory (especially,) really makes a great knife! I've read rumors that Boker might stop making traditional knives in Solingen. That would be a shame, and I hope it's untrue. The new integrals lead me to believe that Boker will hopefully continue to produce traditional knives in Solingen. I watched an interview with the head of Boker saying that he would love to bring more Solingen made knives to the U.S., but that the high import duty makes it difficult because of pricing. It would be beyond cool to see a Boker factory opening up in the U.S. in my opinion (however far fetched it may be) and really think Boker could easily bridge the gap between Case and GEC's U.S. offerings and fill that niche.

Here's my Solingen Boker barlow spear point in bog oak (up to 8,500 years old!) and acid washed, C75 steel.

The Osage Orange #15 TC also came in the other day. Fit and finish is about as good as it gets. I've had good luck with the recent GEC releases for whatever reason. I like Osage and was really excited for this, but I don't know how I feel about the way they did the black coloring on these. I'm going to think on it, but I might finally have a TC that is a contender to be recovered. Now I just gotta find the right piece of mammoth ivory...

 

[r8shell]

The Osage Orange #15 TC also came in the other day. Fit and finish is about as good as it gets. I've had good luck with the recent GEC releases for whatever reason. I like Osage and was really excited for this, but I don't know how I feel about the way they did the black coloring on these. I'm going to think on it, but I might finally have a TC that is a contender to be recovered. Now I just gotta find the right piece of mammoth ivory...

It may look different in hand, but I think I'm in agreement about the dark coloring. What I like about osage, is that it starts out such a bright orange, and darkens with age. They've kind of "forced the patina" with these. I wonder if some fine sandpaper could take it down to the natural color?