M May Barlow

I'm not a lawyer, check the law here and interpret it for yourself, this video does not constitute professional legal advice:
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...
M.May website:
michaelmayknives.com/shop.htm...
Spring strength table:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Music from filmmusic.io
"The descent" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)
Instagram: uk_legal_ca...
#EDC #UKlegal #Knives

[@StephenWorth]

I've got four Michael May knives- two by May, two by the apprentice. All four are wonderful, with lots of mojo. It says who made it on the paperwork. A Sheffield knife and GEC are apples and oranges. Those knives you compare it to aren't even in the same universe. Do you have a lot of experience with traditional patterns? Your opinion is completely out of left field. Are you basing it entirely on one sample? If you want a brand that has troubles, Wright Barlows can be very difficult to open. I bought a buffalo horn Wright and I couldn't open it without a tool. The super expensive ones are good, but the normal priced ones are stiff. Maybe the people you talked to mistook Wright for May.

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

That's the only knife May knife I own, I dis review another May that Paddy owned and loved it (hence my order) but they shipped it like that so that's what I had to review. I'm not trying to compare the GEC directly with the May, it's more a suggestion of something else you can buy for similar money that is unlikely to arrive in a poor condition. It does appear as though my example was the exception rather than the rule but it is what it is, I can only review what's in front of me and what I received was a poor example of cutlery not the wonderful examples you own. Slick slicers has been building an arthur wright collection as well as a May collection and he's far better versed in traditional Sheffield knives, he most certainly knows the difference.

[@StephenWorth]

@@UKLegalCarryKnives Did you contact May and let him know you had a problem?

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

@@StephenWorth To my great shame I didn't, I honestly wish I had but I can't go back and change it. Again, I believe mine was an error, Slick says all of his are lovely as well and the one I handled from Paddy was so nice it inspired me to order one for myself.

[@StephenWorth]

@@UKLegalCarryKnives That knife cost quite a bit. I wouldn't take that big of a loss without trying to get the problem fixed. And it would probably be fairer to May to give him a chance to make right before doing a review. People will think this is typical, which it isn't.

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

@@StephenWorth you're right, it was definitely wrong of me not to give him the chance to fix it first, (I deeply regret this and may at some time in the future, purchase another in order to redo the review.) If his response was unsatisfactory I wouldn't feel bad about an unfavourable review but he didn't get a fair shake, I've since started doing this and documenting the process so people know it happened (as with my vintage hinderer slippy) but more importantly, how the maker deals with such a mistake and if they fix it, what more can you ask? I'll pin this comment then so people can see at least somewhat that it's not par for the course.

[@NicksKnives.]

Was there some fine print right at the bottom of the store page you missed when buying it that said "Some Finishing required" haha

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

Haha, DIY customs!

[@MiataBRG]

Really helpful, thanks 👍

[@tq8310]

Hope MM will take note. I shall wait.

[@davidkurle5418]

You really did a great job fixing the flaws on that one! To quote the legendary Paddy, it is "absolutely stunning" lol! Merry Christmas to you, and thanks for another great video.

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

Thank you very much! It does make you wonder though, if a ham fist like me can finish it, how lax is May on quality? A merry Christmas to you to 😊

[@jtucci5711]

Right on Brother, GEC set the standards in my opinion. For a custom maker to let a knife with those issues leave his shop is unacceptable. After all it is not as though he did not see the problems that you refereed to. I was consider buying one of this brand until hearing from yourself and Paddy that they had issues. As someone who is over critical I am going to say I would be terribly disappointed with a one man shop turning out a knife with problems. A customs makers reputation can either elevate or bury him. Thanks for the review.

[@desertfoxxx98]

GEC are made differently.

[@magicdave93]

I’ve got the excellent same knife and mine isn’t bad, I’ve had to blast all the crap out of the pivot because it was very gritty but I just had to have a Sheffield Barlow for my collection. Great review as usual! 👍🙂

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

Cheers! I'll have to give that a go! See if I can't make it smoother. Cheers -Al

[@magicdave93]

It made mine a lot smoother.

[@BLIGHTY1000]

I couldn't bring myself to spend that amount on one when you can get a GEC for similar

[@TheStreamingEnderman]

My M.May is almost perfect. There is a very minor gap and the blade's centering is a tad off. Other than that, mine is great!

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

I think I just got unlucky, though I've seen evidence of a few other customers unhappy, I've not seen or heard anything recently.

[@gammonsandwich1756]

Hand made in a small workshop, not CNC machined in the Far East. Please remember that when reviewing these knives.

[@Tony-ze1mg]

I do like the blade shape

[@nickwinters3657]

How good would that look with crome nickel were the brass is

[@albion1949]

One scale looks thicker than the other.

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

One is slightly thicker, that sort of thing is okay by me on handcrafted knives though (so long as it isn't ridiculous) the blade wobble though 😞 not great... Cheers!

[@slick_slicers]

I’ve a dozen or more Sheffield knives, including 2 Michael Mays. Both of them are pretty good. My Lee White’s from Taylor’s Eye Witness are probably better put together, but these two aren’t far behind. They do feel like useable working knives and really good looking working knives at that. I value that they were individually handmade by a time served artisan, a Sheffield little meister. All that said, yours should have gone back for re-finishing. There are videos of mine on my channel. I do have to say, I was quite specific as to my requirements, expectations and that I would be exhibiting videos of them. How much difference that made, I don’t know.

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

Perhaps, I'll have to get around to owning a TEW, knowing my luck though, I'll get a duff one lol

[@slick_slicers]

UK Legal Carry Knives the best bet is to get photos of the actual knife you’re going to buy. If you’re spending north of £100, you need to do this.

[@rachael5177]

I recently started adding Traditionals to my collection and started off with some Rough Riders , but I thought being English I should have some Sheffield made ones , I got an Arthur Wright and a Taylor’s eye witness both of which like you I had to finish off making them the quality was terrible and after seeing this example of a Michael May I think I will stick to my Rough Riders even case’s quality control is not that good at the moment and if you want to pay silly money which I don’t , there’s GEC but at least they turn out quality knives .

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

It's somewhat aggravating isn't it? Still, the end product is nice even if we had to finish them and there's some of our handiwork to them now! Cheers to you!

[@IanSmith465]

Shame because it looks great but for £100 I would expect better,

[@robertkirk4387]

I would have just sent it back and bought a German Otter version, sickening really. This guy took over Trevor ablett's workshop and made all the same mistakes as the rest of the little mesters and if he doesn't buck his ideas up he will end up the same way.

[@finnhodby9791]

Sorry to hear about your minor issues but I do feel like you and paddy got relatively unlucky or perhaps I got quite lucky with my three as mine only had a couple minor issues like my slot for the fingernail was quite small on my lamboot but I tend to use them for display other than my bushcraft knife as I have started to get to know him email and have it properly personalised and love it's sharpnes and size here's a quick clip of my knifekzbin.info/www/bejne/j4eqdYaYotObi8k

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

It's almost certainly bad luck and the knife is very pleasant, but, this did have issues and unfortunately I won't lie about it when a knife doesn't meet expectations, I did mention it was likely a rarity as slick slicers ordered two that were fine but, I can only review what I receive.

[@grahamparr3933]

Should have sent that back, fit and finish awful. I have had rough rider knives better than that.

[@patrickvanovermeeren4513]

The materials are real nice ! But , honestley that is not the way to sekk knives. Hope you're happy ? But I can hear you are not.You are being positive though ! Cheers mate !

[@UKLegalCarryKnives]

I'm genuinely fine with it as it is now, just a little disappointed that I had to fix it up, the spine-blade meet up could be better as well. I hate being negative though, I review knives because I enjoy finely made tools, I don't want to complain about other's hard work of I can help it Cheers -Al