Bill Moran Pt. 2

Cut N Chop

Cut N Chop

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Jan 3, 2021
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On the second day of the Damascus class in 2001 during lunch break, I was sitting outside at the bladesmithing school when an older gentleman walked up and asked me if Bill Moran was there. I replied yes, I believe he's inside. The man stated that he had helped build the school back in the 80's and that Bill Moran had told him back then he would make a knife for him. The gentleman walked inside and came back out a short time later. After lunch when class resumed at the forges I saw Mr. Moran was gathering materials, not to make damascus, but to make a knife. A piece of 1084 steel was used for the blade and a scrap piece of oak was used for the handle. In a short time Mr. Moran had forged, ground, heat treated and made a simple, small knife. I was able to take a few photos of the blade being forged and the completed knife. The blade was not marked in any way . The older gentleman returned before class finished for the day and claimed his knife. This was 19 years ago and I want to get it all written down before the details start getting fuzzy. Enjoy.


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Great pictures and a classic Moran...:cool:

I always spoke with Bill and Margret whenever we were able. It was the Blade Show 1991...and May 19th at that ;)...when I had a drawing of his smithy and he kindly signed it for me.
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This is the only Moran knife I have ever handled.
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Nice that he honored what he said he would do. I have seen several Moran knives, the one I first saw was in Feb 1968, at the Special Forces C-Team on the airfield at Can Tho. I noticed a Captain who had a knife I was not familiar with, and asked to see it and it was a Moran. Simple wooden handle, and a large (maybe 6-7 inch) blade. John
 
He most likely wasn't anticipating making a knife and most of the equipment he brought from Maryland was just his leather apron, hammer and some knives. All that could be found at the school back them were loose number and letter stamps. That's the main reason I documented as much as I could in photos. The scrap piece of oak was from a wheelbarrow handle.
 
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