Who Makes Wilson-Combat Knives?

They are made by Bill Wilson's son Ryan. They are extremely well made knives. Ryan has a collaboration going with Darrel Ralph right now on some very nice frame lock folders. I know the dealer who is getting first shot at these knives, and can get any Wilson you want. Give me a shout at UCOBronc64@aol.com if you need some more info or have any questions I can help with.

JR
 
This is my first attempt at attatching a picture, so bear with me. This is one of the new framelock folders Ryan Wilson is putting out with Darrel Ralph. I have some more pics of a couple of different variations (inlays in the frame) if anyone would like to see them, just e-mail me.

JR
 

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I’m not personally familiar with Wilson Knives, but they seem like they are pretty decent. I see that all but one are made with D2 steel, which is pretty good stuff. D2 is often used in dies and other tools, very hard. If I can recall my steels, it isn’t as “stainless” as say 440C so if you are interested in getting something that has strong anti-rust characteristics you might not want D2. From what I can tell it seems like the Wilson knives are good but they sure seem to have a steep price tag for what you get. You can get something like a Sebenza, or Strider for a little more than Wilson, or go with a Busse for about the same price tag. Of course preference is what makes the world go ‘round so this is of course just my preference. YMMV.
 
D2 is indeed tool steel. It is hard, but not especially brittle (Good Things, tm). It will, however, rust easily, so make sure that you get a blade with a good rust-resistant coating AND make sure you keep the edge of the blade (where sharpening removes the coating) is well oiled.

I have a Benchmade AFCK that has Benchmade's patented easy-off black coating (:rolleyes: ). An otherwise nice knife has been transformed into a safe queen by the fact that using the blade causes the black stuff to come off. Cosmetic, to be sure, but my talonite knife receives more use because of this.

Mike
 
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D2 is a carbon steel, but is known as a semi-stainless as it's characteristics very cloesely resemble stainless. With Ryan working with Darrel Ralph, these folders may be crucible steel's D2-E. The "E" stand for enhanced, which is enhanced stain resistance. The chromium content is higher then normal d2, and Darrel says it out preforms D2 as well. He and Rob Simonich both speak very highly of the D2-E.
D2 will rust, but not nearly as easy as other high carbon steels like 52100, 5160, and 1084. It is a very good balance of stain resistance and carbon steel edge holding ability. It is probably my current favorite steel for working knives, along with S90V. Although, S30V seems to be getting a huge push right now.

JR
 
Elements and their percentages in steel:
D2 = C 1.50%, Mn .40%, Si .40%, Cr 12.0%, Va .95%, Mo .90%
440C = C 1.00%, Mn .45%, Si .30%, Cr 17.0%, Mo .50%

IIRC chromium is the element that provides the “rust-preventive” qualities in steel (with carbon providing the hardness). I see that D2 has substantially less Chromium than typical “stainless steels” but not being much of a metallurgist I wouldn’t know just how rust-preventive 12% is compared to 17%. If you can tell us, how much Cr is in the D2-E? Is it closer to 17% or so? For what its worth, I consider D2 to be a great steel as well, since I prescribe to the “take care of your knives” theory of rust prevention.


BTW this info was from Admiral Steel. Different manufacturers will have slightly different percentages of the components in steel.
 
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