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TITANIUM  
Titanium. William Henry uses only aerospace-grade titanium alloy for our frames, clips, and micro-fasteners. Called 6Al/4V, it is titanium with a little aluminum and vanadium added in for additional toughness and tensile strength.
   
DAMASCUS  
Ladder Damascus

Twist Damascus
Damascus. Damascus is a gorgeous art form, rarely practiced now, that goes back centuries to when mixing alloys and forging them together was the best way to create strong, durable metal for blades and other tools. In the modern context, damascus is just plain beautiful. We work with a number of highly skilled forgers who create limited runs of patterned damascus for use in our various handle components.

Each of these master craftsmen bring their own techniques and artistry to their work, yielding a near infinite range of tapestries in metal. Larry Donnelly produces carbon damascus steel for both our frames and blades, in short runs. Every run is unique, and we work with Larry to offer new patterns on an ongoing basis.

Delbert Ealy also produces carbon damascus steel for both our knife and pen components. As with Larry, each pattern is unique and only forged once for our use.
Mosaic Damascus
Mosaic Damascus. Chris Marks forges mosaic damascus, the most complex form of this art, using very exotic alloys that color beautifully when heated or salt-blued. This steel is made from intricate tiles of multiple metals that are forged together into a matrix of color, texture, and pattern.

Gary House is another exceptional maker of mosaic damascus, and we are occasionally fortunate to be able to offer his beautiful work on select William Henry knife frames.
   
MOKUME  
Mokume Gane. Mokume Gane (translated as 'wood-grain metal') was originally developed in Japan as decorative fittings on fine tools. Today, some of the finest mokume in the world is made here in the USA, and we're proud to offer a range of this material on our knives and pens. Our mokume is generally made with copper, brass, and nickel silver in either a 45 or 89 layer billet, forged and patterned by hand. Mike Sakmar, aided by Tim Zowada, provides all our hand-made mokume in a variety of elegant patterns that include Twist, Reverse Twist, and Raindrop (shown).
Wave Mokume. Another William Henry exclusive material (patent pending) that fuses traditional metal forging with modern fabricating technology. This alloy features copper, stainless steel, and pure iron in a 55 layer billet patterned with our undulating Wave. When highly polished and heat colored, the iron layers take on deep browns, purples, or blues according to temperature and quenching technique.
   
SUPERCONDUCTOR  
Superconductor. As the name implies, this material is remnant conductive wire from the super-collider project abandoned by the US Government in the 90's. Made from a matrix of niobium wires pulled thru a copper core, superconductor was (going to be) used to move electricity in the particle accelerator. What a story! We were able to buy some of this material, and we use EDM machining to bias cut across the pattern and reveal the fine grain of niobium against copper.
   
   

 

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3200 NE Rivergate Street, McMinnville, Oregon 97128 | 888.563.4500 | 503.434.9700

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