Bill Moran

Jose Reyes · May 18, 2003

Hey all,

Here's a few pics of Bill's knives I've found surfing the web. They're mostly from WWW.NordicKnives.Com and WWW.ExquisiteKnives.Com . He's already an established maker but his knives have a lot of style. If anyone else has any pictures of some of their favorites, let's see them.

-Jose

Keith Montgomery · May 19, 2003

Interesting. Any idea how old these knives are? Some of them look like they were done quite awhile ago.

Jose Reyes · May 19, 2003

Keith,

I don't have any dates but they do have a vintage look to them. I was hoping other members, who have been collectiing longer than I have, would be able to add some more of his work. I've seen a few examples that are similar in style to what Jay Hendrickson is making, I just don't have any pics.

-Jose

primos · May 19, 2003

I can help a little, but can't give exact dates. More research can turn up better answers, but here's what I can see right now.

The first photo, the Poignard (dagger) bears the stamp Mr. Moran started using in 1973. It looks like a more recent work -- more recent meaning in the last 25 years or so.

The 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th photos appear to have what is known as "The Lime Kiln stamp", which Mr. Moran used from the middle 1950's through 1973.

A version of the fourth knife appears in both the 1st Moran catalog (circa 1959) and the 2nd (late 1960's).

The fifth one, the Ooloo, also bears the "Lime Kiln" stamp used between the middle 1950's and 1973. There is one identical to this in Mr. Moran's catalog printed circa 1959. There is a "similar" Ooloo listed in his catalog from the late 1960's as well, but the one pictured above is almost certainly the ealier model.

Joss · May 19, 2003

Originally posted by primos
... the Poingard (dagger)

Poignard.

primos · May 19, 2003

Noted and corrected.

Joss · May 20, 2003

Thos pesky French words! Let's call it a Freedom dagger!

kile · May 20, 2003

Except for the first, third, and fourth knives pictured, I am really not liking the rest of those at all. Don't get me wrong I love Moran's work. And I can only hope to leave as big of an impact on any field in my life as he has on custom knives, and forged blades in particular, but those knives just don't seem to have the flow and lines that his current work does. My personal opinion is that his sense of design and his execution have improved a lot since the early years.
Kyle Fuglesten

Keith Montgomery · May 20, 2003

I also prefer Bill's later work to the earlier stuff.

Thanks for that dating Terry; much appreciated.

Joss · May 20, 2003

Well, he'll be at the Blade show, so hopefully he'll have some good stuff to show.

TDE · May 20, 2003

wonderful!