William Henry Attache, B15 model

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
26,231
Just got this lovely knife from Ann_Dem and wanted to share the excellent
lines of this knife;

b15 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Raised the reflector up to provide some contours of the grind of the blade
the blade has DLC, Diamond Like Coating and is highly polished, something
that I recently found out William Henry doesn't provide any longer.

b15_attache by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

b15_attache1 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

The same week this arrived, I also had the good fortune to work out a deal
with another forum member for a user version of this knife profile, this one
has the Tom Brown signature on the one side, here is a shot of this knife
compared to a small Sebenza for size and shape.

wh_crk by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

I was in turmoil over this past week, initially contacted by this fellow for this
user/worker one of his, he owns two, one being a keeper and this one he's used
some, not abused, the tip and edge needed some work but nothing that some
time on the stones couldn't take care of ;)
Shortly after getting his message of an offer for his knife, I saw Ann_Dem's post with
the brandy new fancier version, yikes that was beautiful and just
really wanted that, so I PM'ed back to the fellow that I had to decline and hoped he
would understand, then I found that Ann was from Israel and I declined her for overseas transactions
would make anyone pause, and went back to the other guy and said "I'm back" THEN Ann came up
with a plan since I have a good history here in Bladeforums, she would send the knife
first and on approval I would then arrange to send funds. Well, there I was
had to go BACK to the other person, very understanding he is too, and he replied
no problem Gary, if it doesn't work out he would most likely still have the knife
available, I asked if he wanted to work out a bartar of sorts as buying the fancier one
pulled funds out, so much so I had to borrow, but had to get that
one! :) so he came back with an offer an I ended up with both knives a few
days apart, now I have what I call, "one to abuse and one to amuse" :cool:

I highly recommend these folders for a couple of reasons, one they have a nice
size to them, not overly big but plenty of edge for most cutting chores
the spine of the blade is full thickness, meaning no swedge ground in,
While I love the William Henry Westcliff, I owned one a short time but could
not get use to the swedge, for when you go to press down the blade bites
back, not hard of course, but when you use a knife and need to apply some
pressure on the spine of the blade, it just didn't feel good to me. I know
others love it, and that's great, but just a personal opinion.

Also the button lock, at first I was a bit nervous but it seems quite secure
and solid and I don't feel that it will come loose in use at all.

For whatever reason, I couldn't find history on the web about it, but Tom Brown
of the Tracker knife fame, doesn't have his name associated with this knife
any longer, any one know about this? just curious.
Thanks for reading down through this, had to share and again, thanks to
Ann and the other person, didn't include his name as he PM'd me and if he
wants to chime in, he can do so but he knows I appreciate his help and knife too!
G2
 
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wow , Gary , those photos are awesome !

the background thing you did is also great , somehow it's make the lines of knives look more "accurate" ?

this is some sweet pair you got there :)

Congrats with your new knife Gary , it's was big pleasure for me to ship you the WH , thanks again !
 
Thanks Ann! The background thing is actually material used to line the shelf
of a kitchen cabinet, picked it up at a local WalMart store.

The repetitions in the pattern are plain but easy on the eyes background BUT it also has a very 'grippy' surface so the knives and sheaths stay put for the most part.
G2
 
Beautiful knives Gary. Terrific photos as well. Thanks for sharing. :thumbup:

-Ford
 
Gary,very nice pictures.Those are 2 very fine looking knives.What steel on the blades?.What handle and bolster materials.I would also like to know about the history on the Tom Brown name.Do they come with the leather fob or is that your handiwork.
 
Raj said:
Gary,very nice pictures.Those are 2 very fine looking knives.What steel on the blades?.What handle and bolster materials.I would also like to know about the history on the Tom Brown name.Do they come with the leather fob or is that your handiwork.


Thanks Raj and Ford;
Raj, the fancy one has integral Titanium frame and bolsters with slim layers
of carbon fiber scales, polished smooth.
The blades on both have at their core the new kid on the block, ZDP-189
which is reputed to have a rockwell set at 67, amazingly high and my attempts
at sharpening bears this out as a bit harder to work the edge down.

And the leather fob, the fancy one comes with a black one, I'm out of soft
black leather so had to resort to a darker soft leather to put on as a fob

The one on the user model is just put on tightly around the last spacer so it
doesn't interfere with the blade travel, just clears it.

While William Henry makes superb folders, their leather work must be outsourced
and not as cleverly done, but, that's a small point and for me, is easily fixable ;)

The Tom Brown thing, he has a web site with a forum link but that is still underconstruction.

G2
 
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Gary,

Nice job all around. Question I should know, but I don't: Does the button lock them closed also?

Coop
 
Thanks Coop, the button lock functions only when the blade is open so, no
it doesn't keep them retained when closed, at least on the models I've handled
to date, I know they make some automatics and those may well keep the blade
closed?
G2
 
Had a question emailed to me if I had made a sheath for this knife yet,
and yep, I was able to get in some time to make a sheath for the Tracker one
and being the same profile, the Attache fits nicely in it as well;

tracker.jpg


Now on this one, they don't have a place to put a lanyard on, but there
was just enough clearance around the last spacer that I could manage to
get one on there.

I had to cut to length and then trim the middle in order for that part to fit
into the knife, so the leather is wider than what is around the spacer.

Makes it handier to remove the knife from the sheath, the one that was provided
I returned that to the guy I received the knife from, he likes the WH holster
for it's clip convenience but I like the knife in this configuration so when I draw
it out, my hand is positioned correctly, for me at least...;)
G2
 
Those knives are incredible. I don't like being jealous so I have to stop looking at your pics now.
 
Thanks guys, I'm pretty dog gone happy myself with how they both
look and work, but, have to say, the Fallkniven U2 still out cuts them!
that is an amazing little, sharp, knife! so I carry that one about as well :)
G2
 
I was fortunate enough to meet up with Gary last night and get to play with both of those knives. I have to say that I was VERY impressed. Fit and finish were beyond reproach, action was smooooooth and the blades were real SHARP! I really like the button lock as well - the knives open and close one-handed with the greatest of ease. Pleasure to make your acquaintance Gary!

Roger
 
Good meeting you as well, hope you can erase just how nice those folders were, or barring that, pick up one for your self :)
G2
 
agreatscot said:
WOW Gary! Two amazing knives and a great sheath for it. I am GREEN with er, admiration! :D

Glad you like them! The all Ti model is a bugger to sharpen! it is quite hard!
I'm using fine ceramics so it's taking only a little at at time, but even so it has
a very nice toothy edge that is an agressive cutter.

Here again is the link to a larger size image of the Attache, warning to those
folks on dialup, it will take a while to view!

William Henry Attache B15

Thanks,
G2
 
I contacted William Henry about the black blades, as they don't make them
with the polished DLC any longer, had some trouble in the past so they went
with the damascus san mai for that now and the matte finish black on the
ZDP core, I prefer this mirror polished one quite a bit myself, I need to get
a #3 torx to remove the thumb stud so I can do some cleaning around the
bolster area of the blade, there is some stuff that looks like an oil slick, it's
cleaned up quite a bit but now just a touch more to get her shining like new.

While talking with them on the phone, I begged a favour for a couple of the
anodized titanium beads to put on the fob, they were nice enough to ship out
a couple for me, which I put on the fancier model. Then I thought hmmm the
other one needs something to, so I came up with this, note that I also can't
stop slicing things up with this knife, it is just such an aggressive cutter!

See if you can determine what I used to make the beads that are on this knife...;)

cutup by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2
 
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