silenthunterstudios
Slipjoint Addict
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Just saw this in the Baltimore Sun. Very informative obituary. Surprised to see knives and their makers regarded so highly in a paper like the Sun. Actually, I'm glad to see knives and their makers regarded so highly in a paper like the Sun, from what I've read about the man, he deserved the admiration 
.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.moran15feb15,0,924624.story
William F. Moran, 80, maker of collector knives, blades
By Frederick N. Rasmussen
sun reporter
Originally published February 15, 2006
William Francis Moran, an internationally renowned bladesmith who kept alive the tradition of hand-forged blades, died of cancer Sunday at Frederick Memorial Hospital. The Braddock Heights resident was 80.
Mr. Moran's lifetime production of knives numbered in the thousands, and his work is highly sought by collectors at prices in the thousands of dollars.
One of Mr. Moran's Bowie knives -- a 10 1/2 -inch-long, 2-inch-wide knife, in the style named for 19th-century pioneer and soldier Jim Bowie -- recently sold for $30,000.
Mr. Moran began fashioning knives in his youth at Gayfield, his family's farm at Lime Kiln, Frederick County, where he was born and raised. The property is now owned by U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett.
"He was a self-taught knife maker, and when he was nine or 10 years old, he began making knives and was always getting in a lot of trouble. His father would go looking for a farm implement, only to find that Bill had taken it to make a blade," said Jay Hendrickson, a longtime friend and Frederick knife maker.
Mr. Moran dropped out of high school in his freshman year, and soon turned to making knives full time. By the 1940s, he was beginning to acquire a wide reputation for his craftsmanship.
After the farm was sold in 1960, he established a forge and shop in a two-story white cinder-block building on Old National Pike in Braddock Heights. Visitors entered by walking under a replica of a knife, painted silver and brown, suspended over the door.
"Bill had a very unique way and artistic touch when it came to taking natural elements and bringing them to life in a knife. A Moran-made knife always jumps out at you. You could tell one of his knives from across the street," said Mr. Hendrickson, a former president of the American Blade- smith Society.
In his shop, Mr. Moran, dressed in jeans, suspenders, a flannel shirt and cap, could be found patiently heating metal in the forge that was fueled by bituminous coal. Nearby stood several power hammers, a drill press, grinders and buffers.
A coal-burning stove emitting a nutty smell from the middle of the spacious room warded off the autumn and winter chill, Mr. Hendrickson said.
While working, Mr. Moran enjoyed smoking Dunlop English pipe tobacco or enjoying a chaw of Havana Blossom.
"When you walked into that shop, it took you back a hundred years," Mr. Hendrickson said.
"He did it the old way. He'd heat metal to 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit in the forge and then hit it hard on the anvil. It was still pretty rough, but then he'd grind it down to get an edge," he said. "And then he'd finish it with proper heat treatment and tempering. It was intense and exacting work."
Mr. Moran fashioned a variety of knives, including the Spanish-style Cinquedeas, a Persian fighter, American Bowie-style, camp knives and daggers.
He was interested in Damascus steel blades, a highly specialized craft of forge-welding that dates to the time of the Vikings and by the 1970s was in danger of being lost.
"Bill is the father of modern Damascus steel blades, and was the first to bring it back to this country," Mr. Hendrickson said.
In 1973, Mr. Moran introduced the first Damascus steel blades to be made in the U.S. in years, when he unveiled several of his pieces at the Knifemakers Guild Show in Kansas City, Kan.
Because he was interested in preserving and teaching the technique of making knives from forged steel rather than those fashioned from stainless steel stock, he co-founded the American Bladesmith Society in 1976.
In 1988, he helped establish the Moran School of Bladesmithing in Washington, Ark. He also taught for several weeks each year at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.
In 1986, he was inducted into the Knifemakers Hall of Fame and a decade later into the American Bladesmith Society Hall of Fame.
Mr. Moran's many customers included King Abdullah II of Jordan and actor Sylvester Stallone, Mr. Hendrickson said. The waiting list for a handcrafted knife was at least 30 years.
"People were just proud to have their names on the list. One day, Stallone called Bill and wanted him to give him several knives for use in a movie and told him he'd make him famous. He said he was already famous, and Stallone wound up buying the knives for several thousand dollars," Mr. Hendrickson said.
"He had so many visitors to the shop, I wondered how he got anything done. Because he had to concentrate, when visitors came in, he'd stop, sit down and talk for hours with them," he said.
In addition to his knives, Mr. Moran searched the nearby woods for pieces of dogwood, ironwood, apple or hawthorn, which he carved into walking sticks and canes, and then sold. He also carved and sold brier pipes and maintained a knife-sharpening business for restaurant owners.
According to Mr. Hendrickson, a Bill Moran museum being planned in the city of Frederick will preserve his tools and feature a replica of his forge and shop.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Kenney and Basford Funeral Home, 106 E. Church St., Frederick.
Mr. Moran's wife of 33 years, the former Margaret Virginia Creager died in 2001. He has no survivors.
. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.moran15feb15,0,924624.story
William F. Moran, 80, maker of collector knives, blades
By Frederick N. Rasmussen
sun reporter
Originally published February 15, 2006
William Francis Moran, an internationally renowned bladesmith who kept alive the tradition of hand-forged blades, died of cancer Sunday at Frederick Memorial Hospital. The Braddock Heights resident was 80.
Mr. Moran's lifetime production of knives numbered in the thousands, and his work is highly sought by collectors at prices in the thousands of dollars.
One of Mr. Moran's Bowie knives -- a 10 1/2 -inch-long, 2-inch-wide knife, in the style named for 19th-century pioneer and soldier Jim Bowie -- recently sold for $30,000.
Mr. Moran began fashioning knives in his youth at Gayfield, his family's farm at Lime Kiln, Frederick County, where he was born and raised. The property is now owned by U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett.
"He was a self-taught knife maker, and when he was nine or 10 years old, he began making knives and was always getting in a lot of trouble. His father would go looking for a farm implement, only to find that Bill had taken it to make a blade," said Jay Hendrickson, a longtime friend and Frederick knife maker.
Mr. Moran dropped out of high school in his freshman year, and soon turned to making knives full time. By the 1940s, he was beginning to acquire a wide reputation for his craftsmanship.
After the farm was sold in 1960, he established a forge and shop in a two-story white cinder-block building on Old National Pike in Braddock Heights. Visitors entered by walking under a replica of a knife, painted silver and brown, suspended over the door.
"Bill had a very unique way and artistic touch when it came to taking natural elements and bringing them to life in a knife. A Moran-made knife always jumps out at you. You could tell one of his knives from across the street," said Mr. Hendrickson, a former president of the American Blade- smith Society.
In his shop, Mr. Moran, dressed in jeans, suspenders, a flannel shirt and cap, could be found patiently heating metal in the forge that was fueled by bituminous coal. Nearby stood several power hammers, a drill press, grinders and buffers.
A coal-burning stove emitting a nutty smell from the middle of the spacious room warded off the autumn and winter chill, Mr. Hendrickson said.
While working, Mr. Moran enjoyed smoking Dunlop English pipe tobacco or enjoying a chaw of Havana Blossom.
"When you walked into that shop, it took you back a hundred years," Mr. Hendrickson said.
"He did it the old way. He'd heat metal to 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit in the forge and then hit it hard on the anvil. It was still pretty rough, but then he'd grind it down to get an edge," he said. "And then he'd finish it with proper heat treatment and tempering. It was intense and exacting work."
Mr. Moran fashioned a variety of knives, including the Spanish-style Cinquedeas, a Persian fighter, American Bowie-style, camp knives and daggers.
He was interested in Damascus steel blades, a highly specialized craft of forge-welding that dates to the time of the Vikings and by the 1970s was in danger of being lost.
"Bill is the father of modern Damascus steel blades, and was the first to bring it back to this country," Mr. Hendrickson said.
In 1973, Mr. Moran introduced the first Damascus steel blades to be made in the U.S. in years, when he unveiled several of his pieces at the Knifemakers Guild Show in Kansas City, Kan.
Because he was interested in preserving and teaching the technique of making knives from forged steel rather than those fashioned from stainless steel stock, he co-founded the American Bladesmith Society in 1976.
In 1988, he helped establish the Moran School of Bladesmithing in Washington, Ark. He also taught for several weeks each year at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.
In 1986, he was inducted into the Knifemakers Hall of Fame and a decade later into the American Bladesmith Society Hall of Fame.
Mr. Moran's many customers included King Abdullah II of Jordan and actor Sylvester Stallone, Mr. Hendrickson said. The waiting list for a handcrafted knife was at least 30 years.
"People were just proud to have their names on the list. One day, Stallone called Bill and wanted him to give him several knives for use in a movie and told him he'd make him famous. He said he was already famous, and Stallone wound up buying the knives for several thousand dollars," Mr. Hendrickson said.
"He had so many visitors to the shop, I wondered how he got anything done. Because he had to concentrate, when visitors came in, he'd stop, sit down and talk for hours with them," he said.
In addition to his knives, Mr. Moran searched the nearby woods for pieces of dogwood, ironwood, apple or hawthorn, which he carved into walking sticks and canes, and then sold. He also carved and sold brier pipes and maintained a knife-sharpening business for restaurant owners.
According to Mr. Hendrickson, a Bill Moran museum being planned in the city of Frederick will preserve his tools and feature a replica of his forge and shop.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Kenney and Basford Funeral Home, 106 E. Church St., Frederick.
Mr. Moran's wife of 33 years, the former Margaret Virginia Creager died in 2001. He has no survivors.
