WE Knife Arrakis Review

WE Knife Co Ltd. Produces high-quality production knives in China at affordable price range. It manufactures knives ranging from basic to outlandish designs, and Arrakis is one of them.

Arrakis by WE Knives is the design of Elijah Isham and is one of the most outlandish knife designs ever conceived. The looks are striking with a double-shaded handle made of gold and silver titanium and a modified Wharncliffe Bohler M390 stainless steel blade available in satin and black stonewash finish. It has an extended tang, a tip-up carry pocket clip configured for right hand, flipper action and framelock. It comes in a black nylon zippered storage case.

When we opened the box, it revealed another box inside that was plainer and only had WE Knives logo on it.

Inside the smaller box was the black nylon pouch that included the Arrakis wrapped inside a plastic sleeve. If you do not want to use the pocket clip, you can use the nylon pouch as its portable alternative.

The package also included a piece of soft cloth to clean the knife with for maintenance.

The knife comes out in impeccable shape and shades of silver and gold perfectly blended together.

The milled blade and scales added to the aesthetics of the knife, and the blade came with a sharp factory edge right out of the box. The blade stock thickness curved to its modified Wharncliffe style makes it possible to make precise cuts.

You can also use the jimping along the spine as long as you place your index finger on it. That makes it easier to cut paper and cardboard. It is equally easy to use as an envelope opener and slicer.

The Arrakis is screwed together with two Torx screws on each side of the handle, with one on the pocket clip and one large gold anodized on the pivot. That makes it rather easy to disassemble and maintain the knife.

To disassemble the knife, you must first remove the blade by targeting the pivot screw. Next, you must prepare the materials to sharpen the blade. These include sandpaper and water placed on a flat surface. Then wet the blade of the dull knife with water and place the knife on the sandpaper. You can also put water on the sandpaper and lay the blade on it and apply minimal pressure. You can also cover a brick or a block of wood with sandpaper and run the knife blade along it in a circular motion. Make sure to spend equal amount of time on each side. In the absence of a sandpaper, you can also use a mouse pad.

The next part of the maintenance is cleaning the knife using a knife oil. You can use a starched or buckram fabric to apply a bit of mineral oil to a clean and dry disassembled parts of the knife. If there are specks of dust still left on it, it will not be as clean. Make sure to pick and clean each part of the knife individually. Oiling the pivot area will further smoothen the deployment and lockup in case it gets rusty.

The last step is to reassemble the knife just like we disassembled it. Make sure that the stop pin stays in place. If it gets disassembled, it might be hard to put it back. If you do end up disassembling it, make sure to put it back before reassembling the rest of the tools.

After doing all this we found that it is rather easy to disassemble, clean and maintain Arrakis and to put it back together despite the rather complex design of it. It did not feel very complex when handling it. The handle and blade size is enough for an EDC, and the deployment and lockup works perfectly smoothly.

The blade of WE Knives Arrakis features a 3.5” Bohler M390 stainless steel with a 3.375” cutting edge, 1.13” blade width and 0.15” blade stock thickness. It makes for an excellent EDC with exceptional edge retention and corrosion resistance along with the ability to make precise cuts with the modified Wharncliffe blade with a flat grind and plain edge.

Bohler M390 is an ultra-premium stainless steel for knife blades with a hardness level of 59-61 HRC, which is very high for an EDC. It contains chromium, molybdenum, vanadium and tungsten to promote sharpness and edge retention. Most of the carbides are formed by vanadium and molybdenum, leaving more chromium to fight corrosion. It can be polished to achieve a truly mirror appearance. It could be moderately difficult to sharpen, but is affordable.

It features a two-toned black stonewashed and silver satin finish. The width along the cutting edge features black stonewash finish, and the rest of the blade’s spine features a satin finish. It is divided by large holes in between. So even if the blade is in a locked position, the holes are visible through the scales. The two-toned finish is rather new, and serves the purpose of function and aesthetic. The black stonewash finish protects the blade from corrosion and scratches, while the satin finish offers a striking appeal.

The blade has a slight sharpening choil or finger choil to make sharpening easier. It also has a bend along the spine that may act as jimping, but is too far placed. The thumb or index finger can easily slide off into the bend and stretch the hand more than required. It will make using the blade rather difficult.

The blade geometry is aesthetically appealing but lacks in functionality. The milled holes in the center of the blade and the bend along the spine serve no purpose other than aesthetics. It could have been better designed with a drop point blade style without the milled holes and a straight and smooth jimping along the spine. The two-toned finish could remain the same for visual aesthetics and function.

The handle of Arrakis is made of integral silver titanium frame with gold anodized titanium scales. The silver ends where the gold titanium scales begin. It is a unique design choice made to look aesthetically pleasing, just like the blade design.

The handle is 4.5” long, 1.25” wide, and 0.57” thick. It is ultra-lightweight, weighing only 3.76 ounces, and good for an average-sized hand. The handle is milled just like the blade with long cuts all along the scales to add to the aesthetic appeal. The blade also sits perfectly aligned inside the handle when in a closed position.

The titanium backbone of the knife is carved from a single piece with inlays of more titanium wraps in silver around the sides and over the top near the front. It may be a bit too overdone with its complex design, but still weighs less. It features ceramic ball bearings in the pivot for a snappy flipper deployment and a 3D machined titanium tip-up carry pocket clip configured for right hand. The pocket clip is gold and aligns with the design of the handle, covering a milled portion of the middle part of the handle. This further contributes to its lightweight.

Titanium itself is a lightweight metal alloy that offers the best corrosion (rust) resistance of any metal. Therefore, you can preserve the silver and gold shades on the scales for a long time with good maintenance and cleanliness. It is a little heavier than aluminum but stronger and lightweight. Although it is expensive to machine, it is worth the value and longevity. It also has a warm feel to it unlike most metals, so it will feel warm even in winters. It is sturdy and springy and is a good liner material for liner and frame lock. However, titanium is more prone to scratches than stainless steel. Therefore, regular maintenance is must.

A bead-blasted finish could top well in the anodization process and the two-toned coloring on Arrakis. It would have further preserved the surface of the scales despite using it with sweaty, wet, or gloved hands. Since, Arrakis does not come with a bead-blasted finish, it needs to be used a bit more carefully.

WE Arrakis features a flipper tab deployment and frame lock as its locking mechanism. Both work well in conjunction with each other, especially in the presence of ceramic ball bearings in the pivot, which making flipping action much smoother no matter how frequently you use it.

You can see the flipper tabs subtly protruding out on each side of the knife. You just need to apply some pressure with your index finger or thumb to spring it into an open position. This releases the tab on the inside of the pivot to close the knife.

Similarly, the framelock is also easy to use and falls on the higher end of the folding knives lock types after liner lock. It is also referred to as the R.I.L (Reeves Integral Lock) named after its creator Chris Reeves. It was first used in Sebenza folder in 1990, and still going strong after a series of revisions to eliminate its pitfalls.

The framelock works the same way as the liner lock, but is much sturdier and simpler. You can see the frame on the lock side in the above image that is thicker and does not fall in the milled section of the handle. It makes for most part of the handle. You can also see the cutout along the axis of the spine hat has a relief cut to enable inward pressure. The lock bar springs inward once the knife is opened and engages near the rear of the blade tang to ultimately lock the blade in place. This is another advantage of using a framelock – it keeps the blade locked in place whether it is open or closed. It makes using the knife frequently much easier. You do not need to manually open the knife all the way after using the frame lock. The same is the case with the flipper if you jerk the knife open in one smooth action.

Arrakis by WE Knives is an easy to carry EDC folder knife. You can either use the pocket clip or the nylon pouch to carry it anywhere. The pocket clip is tip-up configured for right hand carry and can be discreet when hung in the pocket. However, due to the milling on the scales, it can get tangled and waver here and there. It can even create hot spots against denim. However, it really is lightweight and does not feel like you are carrying anything.

The blade is razor sharp and the 0.15” blade stock thickness accompanied by modified Wharncliffe blade style makes it easy to cut through paper, stacks of paper, rip open envelopes and cut through cardboard boxes.

The handle’s design feels a bit complicated with its holes and milling. But it has contoured edges and a smooth surface. It may feel a bit too much at first, it just takes some getting used to. Although, it does feel too thin in the hand with a thickness of 0.57” and a width of 1.25”. It feels a bit wider than its thickness, which feels a bit odd in the hand. However, the ergonomics of the handle are fine. It does not slip through the hand and can withstand sweaty, wet and glove handed conditions.

We just reviewed WE Knife Arrakis 906C, which consisted of titanium scales. The 906CF-C version also comes in black and grey carbon fiber handle along with a mystery Civivi knife. It has the same qualities as the Arrakis 906C, but is a bit more expensive because it is newer and offers better ergonomics. The carbon fiber inlays add to the grippiness of the handle.

Unlike Arrakis 906C, the 906CF-C does not come with two-toned blade colors. It does however, come with a stonewash finish.

It can be argued that the design of 906CF-C is not as exaggerated as on 906C and comes with rather subtle colors, but it does function the same as 906C. Your choice between the two will ultimately depend on the aesthetic appeal of the two knives.

Eschaton by WE Knives is a predecessor of the WE Arrakis 906C and was an inspiration for it. Both the knives are very similar yet different. It is a bit bigger than Arrakis, extending up to 8.8” with a blade of 3.85” and a handle length of 4.95”. It features the same Bohler M390 Wharncliffe blade with stonewash finish, but the handle is made out of black and grey carbon fiber. It also features a liner lock in place of a frame lock, but has the same flipper tabs as its deployment.

Despite its bigger size, it weighs less than Arrakis at just 3 ounces. It also costs more than Arrakis, but is now discontinued. Now you can only get Arrakis in one of its versions.

WE Knife Arrakis 906C is one of the most complex-designed EDC folder with milled titanium scales and a Bohler M390 Wharncliffe blade. However, that makes it super lightweight weighing just 3.75 ounces and easy to carry. It also has smooth contoured edges and a sharpening choil. But it does not have a very good jimping along the blade’s spine. It stretches the thumb too far off the spine.

It features flipper tabs as its deployment and a framelock as its locking mechanism, both of which work great together. It offers smooth flipping action each time you open it. However, when locking the blade, it sticks in a pivotal position and you have to manually close it all the way. When using the frame lock, your finger may get in the way. So there is a bit of blade play here.

The first impressions and unboxing of the knife was very impressive. The stonewash finish was impeccable and the knife was carefully wrapped inside a plastic sleeve and placed inside a black nylon pouch. It was also easy to disassemble, clean and reassemble.

However, when it came to field testing, the knife did not do so well. You cannot choke up the knife, given the dysfunctional jimping, and the pocket clip did not stay well in place either. It can also create hot spots in the pocket and the handle feels a bit too thin.

When compared with two other versions of the Arrakis, it ranked at pretty much the same level other than the colors and the handle materials. So if you are looking for an aesthetically pleasing pocketknife, Arrakis by WE Knives is a good choice when it comes to design and features.