The Gentac 'Chaos' features a beautiful frame in aerospace grade Titanium, inlaid with Red Burl Dichrolam®. The blade is hand-forged 'Intrepid' damascus by Chad Nichols; the one-hand button lock and the thumb stud are set with citrine gemstones. An exceptional design that offers rigorous performance in a sleek, comfortable knife, the Gentac is also the perfect canvas to showcase William Henry’s range of exotic materials and techniques. The 'Chaos' is the beautiful balance between elegance, function, modern and exotic materials.
HAND-FORGED DAMASCUS
Damascus steel was a term used by several Western cultures from the Medieval period onward to describe a type of steel created in India and used in sword making from about 300 BC to 1700 AD. These swords were characterized by distinctive patterns of banding and mottling reminiscent of flowing water. Such blades were reputed to be not only tough and resistant to shattering, but capable of being honed to a sharp and resilient edge. William Henry's damascus is made from several types of steel welded together to form a billet.
The patterns vary depending on how the damascus artist works the billet. The billet is drawn out and folded until the desired number of layers are formed. William Henry damascus billets are forged with a minimum of 300 layers. William Henry works with a handful of the very best damascus artists/forgers in the U.S.
TITANIUM
Titanium is a low density, strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant (including sea water, aqua regia and chlorine) metal with a silver color.
It was discovered in Great Britain by William Gregor in 1791, and named by Martin Heinrich Klaproth for the Titans of Greek mythology
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.
CITRINE
Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown due to ferric impurities.
The name is derived from Latin citrina which means "yellow" and is also the origin of the word "citron." Sometimes citrine and amethyst can be found together in the same crystal, which is then referred to as ametrine.
DICHROLAM®
Dichrolam® is the brainchild of furniture designer turned chemist, John Blazy, who spent twenty years of R&D to transform hand patterned dichroic films and hard resins into a durable composite that is actually more vibrant and colorful than the Abalone and Opal - but does not have the price, size and fabrication limitations.
The optical core is HIGHLY color saturated and manually patterned to look like Carpathian Elm Burl wed to Australian Black Opal. The patterning techniques took many years of experimentation to bring out the vibrant colors and the 3D swirling burl texture - while the interlaminar adhesion chemistry was equally as difficult.
These core layers are not metal, but reflect color due to thin film physics called dichroism, which appear like metal, but change colors at different angles of view. The clear resin then “lenses” this optical core to amplify its visual dynamics.
Specifications:
- One-hand button lock system
- Shipped in an elegant wood presentation box
- Blade 3.25" (82.5mm)
- Handle 3.80" (96.5mm)
- Overall open 7.00" (177.8mm)
MODEL: WH-B30CHAOS