- Joined
- Feb 21, 2005
- Messages
- 3
My wife's 40th birthday is coming up in early October, and I splurged on a present for her--and for me 
. I bought a set of William Henry kitchen knives in the ARC rack as well as a B05-SZD "Rio" for myselfthe narrow, drop point blade.
I can only give initial impressions since the purchase was made just two days ago.
First, the kitchen knives:
- These were a variant of the "Pro" collection (meaning no damascus on the blade). Unlike the standard pro, they came with simple, oval carbon fiber handles with no grooves or ornamentation. I like the look of them much better than the standard "Pro".
- The diameter of the handles is a little small for my hands, but I expect they will fit my wife's hands perfectly.
- They are by far the sharpest OOB kitchen knives I have ever handled. In fact, they have a much sharper edge than I have EVER been able to put on a Henckle Four Star. Hopefully, some of the hype of the ZDP-189 is accurate, and the edge holding will be good.
- The display rack is very attractive and functional. The magnets at the top of each slot keep you from dulling the blade on the wood--a nice touch that really seems to work. Fit and finish on the ARC rack is adequate, but nothing stunning; certainly not up to the level of the knives themselves.
- Flexibility is just about right for kitchen knives, i.e., quite flexible on the slicer, utility, and paring knives, less so on the chopper/chef knives.
- I don't really like the look of the laminated blade. There is a thin line visible about one quarter of the way up the surface of the knife and following the curve of the blade. This is where the grind reveals the core steel. I would have preferred the damascus, but it virtually doubles the price so it was out of the question.
- The core is surrounded by 420 stainless to provide toughness and flexibility. I don't see why this can't work, but I suspect that the blade design was forced on WH by either availability or price of ZDP-189, not by R&D into optimal blade materials. Could be wrong, though.
- Fit and finish on the knives themselves is absolutely impeccable. Of course, I'd expect this for the ridiculous amount of money charged.
Now for the Rio:
- "Wave" damascus pattern is beautiful and hides the transition from ZDP-189 to other layers.
- Fit and finish is absolutely flawless. I've never seen better--even in a high end, custom knife. The light areas in the damascus are buffed to a virtual mirror shine, and the acid etching has created an almost soot-like black in the dark portions of the blade. Truly striking. The transition from liner to snakewood handle is virtually seamless. The titanium in the liner is polished till it looks like stainless or nickel, though the weight and color will give it away if you have doubt.
- The blade opens and closes as though it were on ball bearings (I believe that it is actually on Teflon washers). Once the blade is locked open, there is no play in any direction, yet the blade will ALMOST close under its own weight when the lock is released. For a gentleman's pocket knife--whatever that is--I'd say the tension is just about perfect.
- Snakewood isn't my favorite wood for scales--frankly I prefer the Ironwood that WH was using last year--but it does add a touch of warmth to the knife, and it doesn't scream "high tech" the way carbon fiber and titanium do. Overall, I like the look.
- The button lock seems adequate for the job; this isn't a tactical folder that is going to be used for prying/hammering/chopping/screw driving... I doubt it's as strong as a good frame lock or axis, but it is elegant, requires very little force to operate, and is simple enough to be reliable. It makes a wonderful snick sort of sound when the blade locks in place. It also provides an additional "tendency to remain in the closed position" which I believe is a requirement under California law for pocket knife carry. I'd say it's a very good choice in a light duty folder.
- Pocket clip. It doesn't have one. Instead, the knife comes with a small clip case. You clip the slip case in the pcoket rather than the knife itself. Some will hate this fact, and others will love it. Personally, I'm on the "love it" side, but I believe I am in the minority. Not having a clip means that the knife is more comfortable in the hand. Also, the case will keep the lovely finish from getting scratched. Again, keep in mind that this isn't a tactical knife or self defense weapon--it's as much a work of art as a tool.
- The balance is just about right on this knife, though on a folder this small it probably doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference. I also own a WH folder that has carbon fiber handles without any liner, and, frankly, the handle is a little TOO light. It throws the balance off just a touch. The Rio doesn't have that problem. Overall weight is just over one ounce, so to say it's easy to carry is an understatement.
Are WH knives worth the price? Depends on how you look at it, I suppose. All I can say is that I haven't been disappointed yet--and yes, I WILL carry the RIO as an EDC. I don't buy any knives to sit in a safe--that defeats the purpose.
Right now, I'm very pleased with the purchase. Time will tell whether the ZDP-189 is all it's cracked up to be. I'll post a follow-up once I have had a chance to evaluate the durability and edge-holding of the knives. I know what you are REALLY interested in is:
- Tendency to chip
- Ease of sharpening
- Whether edge holding is as good as claimed
- Tendency for the edge to roll
- What happens when you repeatedly drop point first from 20 feet onto granite (just kidding on this one--I don't have the heart)
I think there are really two risks here:
1) ZDP-189 will prove to be too brittle for use in a kitchen knife--even when laminated by 420 stainless.
2) My wife will think that the 40th birthday present I got for HER--the kitchen knives--is really more of a present for ME.
What could I do, though? She didn't want jewelry... I'll have to hope that the weekend trip to Sonoma that goes along with the knives is enough to mitigate this risk.
. I bought a set of William Henry kitchen knives in the ARC rack as well as a B05-SZD "Rio" for myselfthe narrow, drop point blade.I can only give initial impressions since the purchase was made just two days ago.
First, the kitchen knives:
- These were a variant of the "Pro" collection (meaning no damascus on the blade). Unlike the standard pro, they came with simple, oval carbon fiber handles with no grooves or ornamentation. I like the look of them much better than the standard "Pro".
- The diameter of the handles is a little small for my hands, but I expect they will fit my wife's hands perfectly.
- They are by far the sharpest OOB kitchen knives I have ever handled. In fact, they have a much sharper edge than I have EVER been able to put on a Henckle Four Star. Hopefully, some of the hype of the ZDP-189 is accurate, and the edge holding will be good.
- The display rack is very attractive and functional. The magnets at the top of each slot keep you from dulling the blade on the wood--a nice touch that really seems to work. Fit and finish on the ARC rack is adequate, but nothing stunning; certainly not up to the level of the knives themselves.
- Flexibility is just about right for kitchen knives, i.e., quite flexible on the slicer, utility, and paring knives, less so on the chopper/chef knives.
- I don't really like the look of the laminated blade. There is a thin line visible about one quarter of the way up the surface of the knife and following the curve of the blade. This is where the grind reveals the core steel. I would have preferred the damascus, but it virtually doubles the price so it was out of the question.
- The core is surrounded by 420 stainless to provide toughness and flexibility. I don't see why this can't work, but I suspect that the blade design was forced on WH by either availability or price of ZDP-189, not by R&D into optimal blade materials. Could be wrong, though.
- Fit and finish on the knives themselves is absolutely impeccable. Of course, I'd expect this for the ridiculous amount of money charged.
Now for the Rio:
- "Wave" damascus pattern is beautiful and hides the transition from ZDP-189 to other layers.
- Fit and finish is absolutely flawless. I've never seen better--even in a high end, custom knife. The light areas in the damascus are buffed to a virtual mirror shine, and the acid etching has created an almost soot-like black in the dark portions of the blade. Truly striking. The transition from liner to snakewood handle is virtually seamless. The titanium in the liner is polished till it looks like stainless or nickel, though the weight and color will give it away if you have doubt.
- The blade opens and closes as though it were on ball bearings (I believe that it is actually on Teflon washers). Once the blade is locked open, there is no play in any direction, yet the blade will ALMOST close under its own weight when the lock is released. For a gentleman's pocket knife--whatever that is--I'd say the tension is just about perfect.
- Snakewood isn't my favorite wood for scales--frankly I prefer the Ironwood that WH was using last year--but it does add a touch of warmth to the knife, and it doesn't scream "high tech" the way carbon fiber and titanium do. Overall, I like the look.
- The button lock seems adequate for the job; this isn't a tactical folder that is going to be used for prying/hammering/chopping/screw driving... I doubt it's as strong as a good frame lock or axis, but it is elegant, requires very little force to operate, and is simple enough to be reliable. It makes a wonderful snick sort of sound when the blade locks in place. It also provides an additional "tendency to remain in the closed position" which I believe is a requirement under California law for pocket knife carry. I'd say it's a very good choice in a light duty folder.
- Pocket clip. It doesn't have one. Instead, the knife comes with a small clip case. You clip the slip case in the pcoket rather than the knife itself. Some will hate this fact, and others will love it. Personally, I'm on the "love it" side, but I believe I am in the minority. Not having a clip means that the knife is more comfortable in the hand. Also, the case will keep the lovely finish from getting scratched. Again, keep in mind that this isn't a tactical knife or self defense weapon--it's as much a work of art as a tool.
- The balance is just about right on this knife, though on a folder this small it probably doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference. I also own a WH folder that has carbon fiber handles without any liner, and, frankly, the handle is a little TOO light. It throws the balance off just a touch. The Rio doesn't have that problem. Overall weight is just over one ounce, so to say it's easy to carry is an understatement.
Are WH knives worth the price? Depends on how you look at it, I suppose. All I can say is that I haven't been disappointed yet--and yes, I WILL carry the RIO as an EDC. I don't buy any knives to sit in a safe--that defeats the purpose.
Right now, I'm very pleased with the purchase. Time will tell whether the ZDP-189 is all it's cracked up to be. I'll post a follow-up once I have had a chance to evaluate the durability and edge-holding of the knives. I know what you are REALLY interested in is:
- Tendency to chip
- Ease of sharpening
- Whether edge holding is as good as claimed
- Tendency for the edge to roll
- What happens when you repeatedly drop point first from 20 feet onto granite (just kidding on this one--I don't have the heart)
I think there are really two risks here:
1) ZDP-189 will prove to be too brittle for use in a kitchen knife--even when laminated by 420 stainless.
2) My wife will think that the 40th birthday present I got for HER--the kitchen knives--is really more of a present for ME.
What could I do, though? She didn't want jewelry... I'll have to hope that the weekend trip to Sonoma that goes along with the knives is enough to mitigate this risk.