- Joined
- Oct 18, 2001
- Messages
- 20,978
I spent the morning at Bill Moran's shop in Frederick, MD.
We talked convex edges, forging/grinding fullers, integral bolsters and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Not the first time I've been to his place, but the best so far in terms of one-on-one conversation.
He'll probably have forgotten my visit by tomorrow, but I will remember it for the rest of my life.
He has a very no-nonsense approach to knifemaking that still sets him apart from the pack - despite having given rise to a large portion of that very "pack" himself.
Sometimes, you almost expect a prolific knifemaker to be more aloof over time....jaded, if you will, from years and years of dealing with customers, from increased prices of their knives, increases in popularity and fame, responsibilites, etc.
Not so with Bill. Every time I've talked with him he's been almost giddy to talk about his work....like it was the first knife he'd ever made.
When I first found out that Bill lived only 20 miles north of me, I almost fell off my chair. I couldn't believe it. In fact, the way I found that out was through an article in the Washington Post (scanned and posted here a while back). Here I was wishing I had some knifemaker I could watch-n-learn from...and Bill Moran is 30 minutes away. But at the time, I was too chicken to just call up and invite myself over. Thankfully, the shyness passed and I have since had some valuable moments with Bill, in and out of his shop.
I noticed something today I had not seen before....I already knew he made his own tools....that was not the surprise. The surprise was lying on the wall toward the back of his shop (near the Lil' Giant) - hammer handles made with curly maple, inlaid with silver. I kept looking around and pretty soon realized that nearly everything had a curly maple handle and half the tools had silver inlay in the handles.
He clearly loves and believes in what he makes. Made me chuckle at first...."silly old man"....but then I realized that each one of those tools was made with the "practice-makes-perfect" principle and served as proof he had served his time with this particular technique.
Best part was Bill showing me his lil' belt knife - with a gleam in his eye - and explaining how he made it. It was simple and straightforward. Not pretentious, or magnificent. But there was no mistaking it was made by Bill.
Thanks for the great start to my Saturday Morning, Bill.
If you're within a day's drive of Maryland, you need to schedule time in October to come to the Moran Hammer-In. The day will come when Bill will no longer be with us. He is a living legend. Get in on the goods while you still can.
Best wishes to everyone this weekend.
We talked convex edges, forging/grinding fullers, integral bolsters and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Not the first time I've been to his place, but the best so far in terms of one-on-one conversation.
He'll probably have forgotten my visit by tomorrow, but I will remember it for the rest of my life.
He has a very no-nonsense approach to knifemaking that still sets him apart from the pack - despite having given rise to a large portion of that very "pack" himself.
Sometimes, you almost expect a prolific knifemaker to be more aloof over time....jaded, if you will, from years and years of dealing with customers, from increased prices of their knives, increases in popularity and fame, responsibilites, etc.
Not so with Bill. Every time I've talked with him he's been almost giddy to talk about his work....like it was the first knife he'd ever made.
When I first found out that Bill lived only 20 miles north of me, I almost fell off my chair. I couldn't believe it. In fact, the way I found that out was through an article in the Washington Post (scanned and posted here a while back). Here I was wishing I had some knifemaker I could watch-n-learn from...and Bill Moran is 30 minutes away. But at the time, I was too chicken to just call up and invite myself over. Thankfully, the shyness passed and I have since had some valuable moments with Bill, in and out of his shop.
I noticed something today I had not seen before....I already knew he made his own tools....that was not the surprise. The surprise was lying on the wall toward the back of his shop (near the Lil' Giant) - hammer handles made with curly maple, inlaid with silver. I kept looking around and pretty soon realized that nearly everything had a curly maple handle and half the tools had silver inlay in the handles.
He clearly loves and believes in what he makes. Made me chuckle at first...."silly old man"....but then I realized that each one of those tools was made with the "practice-makes-perfect" principle and served as proof he had served his time with this particular technique.
Best part was Bill showing me his lil' belt knife - with a gleam in his eye - and explaining how he made it. It was simple and straightforward. Not pretentious, or magnificent. But there was no mistaking it was made by Bill.
Thanks for the great start to my Saturday Morning, Bill.
If you're within a day's drive of Maryland, you need to schedule time in October to come to the Moran Hammer-In. The day will come when Bill will no longer be with us. He is a living legend. Get in on the goods while you still can.
Best wishes to everyone this weekend.
