William Henry...As good as a custom?

Megalobyte

Megalobyte

Joined
Jun 5, 2002
Messages
2,761
I had the chance to examine a few W&H knives today, and though i have seen many custom knives, many costing thousands of dollars, i, nonetheless was impressed by the smoothness and quality of the W&H knives. The materials, fit and finish are on par IMO with knives costing considerably more. Now, theyre not dirt cheap, but it seems you are getting an awful lot of quality for your money. And theyre definitely well below true custom knife pricing levels. So, is W&H a well guarded secret, a knife that is made as well as a good custom at half, or even a quarter the price? What do you all think?
 
I have a small William Henry that is probably what you would call a "Gentleman's Folder". I like it a lot. It is smooth operating and very sharp. However, being small it is probably not as strong as many more tactical knives. I carry it as an EDC when I am relatively dressed up. I think that it is a great knife for the money. :)
 
Those WH knives are mighty fine... And that brings me to this point:

"Factory-made" doesn't necessarily indicate inferiorty to "custom/hand-made" if you ask me. For example, I recently acquired a mini japanese style O-1 piece by a fairly well-known maker around these parts, and to be diplomatic I have to say that its "character" really shows on many fronts. The grinds are a tad uneven, the edge was not very sharp at all, and there are glaringly obvious fit and finish issues with the sloppy and over-soaked silk wrap on the handle. For less money I bought a Timberline/Lightfoot Mini Pitbull that is flawless on all counts. (But then so is the Lightfoot original so go figure...)

Now, if one defines "as good as a custom" as being built and finished to the same level then yes, William Henry as well as certain Spyderco and Microtech models are easily as good as your average custom tactical folder. Now, which knife has more "soul" is another question altogether. I for one love my little handmade necker far more than any factory neck knife that I own despite its flaws. I just wish the handle was as nicely done as a Snody or Martin wrap though.

PM
 
Fit & finish may be precise, however genuine "custom" is not "off the shelf," you determine its specs and have exactly what you want made through a deal individually and unquely negotiated with the maker. You can't contact William Henry and say, 'I love the handle on your large spearpoint, could I have that with snakewood scales and nickle bolster, 3 in. warncliffe blade in 420V or talonite, full flat grind with no bevel, also can you reduce handle length by 1/8- 3/16 inches. In other words, you can have a true "one of kind" knife- others by same maker may be similar but no two held up to each other will be exactly the same, that is what is possible in a "custom."
Also I dont' belive William Henry is as much cheaper than custom as you say, especially once you look at WH's with more complex bolsters and more expensive scales, they can be high priced. Yes, for the quality of work and materals they are very good- but if you really want to compare to true custom makers in 2X-4X price range ($400-$1000+ range) I think you will quickly see what seperates true handmade knifes from high end production. CNC milling and other technological advances they can provide equall or even better fit and finish- however a handmade knife is not reducible simply to these factors.
IMHO,
Martin
 
I agree with you about the William Henry knives. I consider them to be outstanding by any measure you choose. I would consider them to be the equal of most custom knives but, of course, they aren't custom in that you can't specify the materials etc. like you can with one from one of the custom makers.

Actually, I feel similarly about the Chris Reeve knives and, oddly, the Microtech Tachyon butterfly knife (not the other Microtechs, though.) I kept the first Tachyon I ever got into inventory. I simply couldn't resist it. I have 3 or 4 Chris Reeve knives as well and like them a lot. Every now and then everything comes together just righ and excellent production knives result. Take care.
 
Knife Outlet reminded me that i also think Chris Reeve knives are, in terms of fit and finish, and overall quality, the equal of many customs, hell, i have seen many customs, some very pricey, not made as well as an out of the box Sebenza. Some not even close. Though of course, the Sebenza price tag is getting into custom territory, thus they'd better be nearly as good as a custom if theyre going to charge a custom price.

I guess i feel the same way about Microtechs, i think they too offer quality materials, and near custom quality fit and finish.

With all of these, admittedly different types of production knives, you get quality materials, virtually perfect fit and finish, and thus very close to perfection, something us knife nuts seem to crave. Not all customs, even some pricey customs, can claim that.

Having said that, i do think that there are some extremely well made customs out there at relatively reasonable prices for what youre getting, and many customs do offer rarer and more expensive materials, such as premium mammoth ivory and pearl, high-end mosaic damascus steels, but as far as an upscale folder, the most bang for the buck, to me, seems to be W&H. Youre getting a very well made knife, with excellent materials, fit and finish, nice to look at, and all for about $200. Hard to beat. Just my opinion, worth what you paid for it. :)

If any of you can think of other knife companies which also offer great bang for the buck, id like to hear about it. I very much like it when i find a good value, with knives or otherwise.
 
WH knives are beautifully finished and I think they offer great value. I do think they are equal to or better than some similarly priced customs and even some that are more expensive. There are also some customs that cost about the same as a WH knife that to me are nicer. One thing I will say is that I think that WH knives are as good as any other production knife as far as build quality is concerned and I have had the opportunity to handle a few of them.

I totally agree with what Martin had to say and would like to add that with production knives you don't get to know who it is that makes your knives. One of the best things about the world of custom knives to me, is getting to know the makers and in some cases making some very good friends.

The above really has nothing to do with the questions that were originally asked. I don't think that WH is a secret at all. They are well known and well respected. Their knives are exceptionally well made and offer comparable quality to custom knives in, and even above their price range. Though I do not personally believe that those are the only reasons to buy a knife, I would be willing to bet that you would be unlikely to ever be disappointed in one of WH's more upper scale knives. Their lower priced knives will not offer the same quality, but will still provide great value. This is a company whose knives I greaty admire.
 
Fit and finish on WH knives are as good as it gets.Nice stuff.:D
 
I have aquired a few (four) custom pieces recently, all by different makers. Comparing my buddies little WH to my MUCH more expensive pieces kills me; the thing is AWESOME! No granted, it is not anywhere near as tough as my Andersen, and it lacks the detail/quality on the Damascus compare to Elishewitz's piecess, but going with the proverbial bang for the buck, the WH will suit any man IN A SUIT just fine.

-S
 
The William Henry's are excelent knives. No, they are not of the tuff as nails variety of knives, but that isn't how they are sold either. They are a nice gentalmens folders.

And if you used the word "handmade" instead of "custom" in your original question, than people couldn't nit pick over symantics of what a custom is or isn't.
 
IMHO, something like a WH can match in terms of quality, but you miss out on the fun of the handmade custom experience.

To me, some of the greatness of buying a handmade custom is by doing so through the maker: you get to meet the maker, tell them what you want for your knife, hear how it's coming, and when you get it, it's "special", it feels truly like it's yours. With any luck, this special and unique knife can serve as a reminder of a good business transaction, and perhaps a friendship, and I think that's what's really worth the extra money.
 
OTOH, it seems easy to buy a custom without that experience given that many custom makers these days work from catalogs and you can order from several well-known makers off their websites picking and choosing from a set of pre-set configurations.

It seems like the lines are really getting blurred when you can buy a "custom" off a web site that's the same as the knive everyone else is buying off the site; or you can order a "production"-not-"custom" Emerson with the same customer experience of picking and choosing the blade, bolster, and handle material; or you can buy a one-of-a-kind William Henry, where you didn't specify the materials, but, on the flip side, no one else can possibly have one like it.
 
It's an awesome knife. Precise, tight, smooth and sharp. I relly really want to add the executive version (Boron Carbide "Black Diamond" coated blade and gold trim with Carbon scales and blue annodized Ti liner/lock and clip)to my collection. But these are both high end production knives.

What about the WH Limited Edition models? I saw one the other day in a shop that was incredible! It had like a starfish sort of pattern made of silver balls on the bolster and the bolster was bordered with a couple rows of the same silver balls. It was incredibly elegant. There were beautifully fitted jigged bone scales and a BC coated "Black Diamond" blade. It was AWESOME! I believe it was the T12 design, but finished in a fairly exotic manner with WH level of attention to detail. At $600.00 I didn't buy it, but I was momentarily tempted but am tryingo to contain my spending for the moment.

IMHO, William Henry Limited Editions get into the custom arena. I've also corresponded with Matt Conable and found him to be a true gentleman. I had a problem regarding my T10 that was not the fault of the manufacturer or a problem with the design or materials, really WH had no responsibility to help at all, but Matt went above and beyond to help a customer. I'll buy more of his stuff in the future.

jmx
 
jmxcpter: You may have seen the T10 Monaco, although it has snakewood scales, not jigged bone, so I'm not positive if this is the one you saw. (see the second knife listed under http://www.williamhenryknives.com/collection/catalog-limited.html) And yes, it is a very nice knife ;)

Have you seen the one they made for the band ZZ Top with "ZZ Top" in the damascus? Check this out! The picture is reversed, so the "ZZ Top" is backwards in the picture, but you get the idea. http://www.williamhenryknives.com/collectors/home.html

- Mark

Edited to get my numbering right!
 
SHHHHH,William Henry is still a secret.IMO,just the BEST.I owned one,then two,then five,now six.
 
I have a little trouble warming to WH knives.

The first reason is to me they resemble the Klotzi knives from Switzerland, I was not impressed by Klotzi at all.

The second reason, is by appearance not a lot of contouring for grip gives me an impression that they would not be very secure in the hand.
 
WH won't make a left hand knife. The ones that I have seen seem nice but I'll stick with CRK. ;)
 
W.H.knives are very good quality but am I the only one who thinks they are overpriced?I have had 2 W.H.folders.Two yrs.ago I had their largest liner lock which I think had a 3 & 1/4" blade.It had bone scales which was one of their heaviest folders and the damm thing was just too light.The carbon fiber folders are so light weight that it "feels"cheap.Now I know these are gentlemans folders but holding them gives me no confidence that they could cut more than envelopes or very thin cardboard.I may be totally wrong,I have never tested them.For all those people who complain about liner locks the W.H. models do not have thick liner locks.This along with the extreme light weight just inspire no confidence to me.
The other model I now have is the button lock Westcliff folder.This also is very light weight but with the titanium handles and the button lock feels much more secure to me.BTW they are no longer making liner locks.I like the Westcliff a lot but I think its retail price is way too high.Anyone remmember the SpeedTech company.They made the same knid of lock with a much more heavy duty,tactical type folder with great fit & finish.To me the quality was similar to W.H. and you could almost customize your order on their web site.SpeedTech was much more reasonable price wise,(maybe thats why their out of buisness :confused: )
For all the members who complain about Sebenza's price I think you get much more value than William Henry.Compare the Mnandi or a small wood Sebbie to W.H. To me there is no compairsion.The gentlemans folders of Chris Reeves are every bit the quality as WH if not better at a lower price.
 
Which models did you handle? Some of their new models get super expensive super fast.

What about the $2,000 William Henry's? They have standard production models up that high. You can get one sweet custom for two grand.
 
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