William Francis Moran Jr. (May 1, 1925 – February 12, 2006), also known as Bill Moran, was a pioneering American knifemaker who founded the

American Bladesmith Society The American Bladesmith Society, or ABS, is a non-profit organization composed of knifemakers whose primary function is to promote the techniques of forging steel blades. The ABS was founded by knifemaker William F. Moran, who came up with the con ...

and reintroduced the process of making pattern welded steel to modern knife making. Moran's knives were sought after by celebrities and heads-of-state. The "William F. Moran School of Bladesmithing" bears his name and in addition to founding the ABS, he was a '' Blade Magazine'' Hall of Fame Member and a President of the Knifemakers' Guild.

Early life

Moran was born on a dairy farm near Lime Kiln, Maryland in 1925. There he learned the craft of blacksmithing by trial and error using an old coal

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

that he found on the farm and made his first knife at the age of 12; by the age of 14 he was making knives to sell. As a teenager he taught himself how to forge a blade, obtaining advice from local

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s (although in a 2003 interview with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Moran said he was "getting all the wrong answers" from them) and by the 1950s he was publishing a catalog and selling his forged blades. In 1960 he sold the family farm to become a full-time knife maker.

Knife making

Moran forged his knives using a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

in the manner of a

using a

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

and

anvil An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked"). Anvils are as massive as practical, because the higher th ...

to shape the steel. In the 1950s he was one of the last few

bladesmith Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodworkin ...

s in the United States, forging his metal as opposed to grinding blades out of stock. Moran began trying to revive the ancient process of

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which i ...

Damascus steel Damascus steel was the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of Wootz steel either imported from Southern India or made in production centres in Sri Lanka, or Khorasan, Iran. These swords are characterize ...

in the late 1960s. However, few living bladesmiths knew the exact techniques and without a recipe for the process, it was in danger of being lost; through trial and error he taught himself

pattern welding Pattern welding is the practice in sword and knife making of forming a blade of several metal pieces of differing composition that are forge welding, forge-welded together and twisted and manipulated to form a pattern. Often mistakenly called Dam ...

and referred to it as "

". In 1972, Moran was elected president of the

Knifemakers' Guild The Knifemakers' Guild is an American organization, based in Richfield, Utah, made up of knifemakers to promote custom knives, encourage ethical business practices, assist with technical aspects of knife making, and to sponsor knife shows. The Guild ...

. The following year he unveiled his "Damascus knives" at the Guild Show and created a revival of interest in the forged blade, and along with the knives he gave away free booklets detailing how he made them. In 1976 he founded the

(ABS), a group of knife makers dedicated to preserving the forged blade and educating the public about traditional bladesmithing techniques. Moran had a 20-year-long waiting list and sold knives to such celebrities as

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

and members of royalty including

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. According to ''The Washington Post'', Sylvester Stallone's knife cost the actor $7,000 and included over 30 feet of silver wire in the handle.

Death

Moran died of cancer on February 12, 2006, at Frederick Memorial Hospital. After his death, one of his Bowie knives sold for $30,000 at auction. According to his obituary in ''The Washington Post'', Moran willed his forge and tools to the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation.

Legacy

Apart from his influence regarding the forged blade, pattern welding, and damascus steel, Moran's influence has spread to other realms of the cutlery industry beyond "Art Knives". Copies of Moran's knives have been made by production knife companies.

Spyderco Spyderco is an American cutlery company based in Golden, Colorado, producing knives and knife sharpeners. Spyderco pioneered many features that are now common in folding knives, including the pocket clip, serrations, and the opening hole. Spyder ...

has long made a

Drop point Drop, DROP, drops or DROPS may refer to: * Drop (liquid) or droplet, a small volume of liquid ** Eye drops, saline (sometimes mydriatic) drops used as medication for the eyes * Drop (unit), a unit of measure of volume * Falling (physics), allow ...

hunting knife, inspired by a Moran designs.

Blackjack Knives Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

made several tactical versions of Moran's fighting knives. Paul Chen's Hanwei Forge of China made a damascus steel version of the Moran Kenshar, complete with silver wire inlay. Custom Knifemaker

Ernest Emerson Ernest R. Emerson (born March 7, 1955) is an American custom knifemaker, martial artist, and edged-weapons expert. Originally an engineer and machinist in the aerospace industry, Emerson became a knifemaker by producing knives for a martial ar ...

has long stated that the Moran ST-23 was one of the inspirations for his CQC-8 folding knife. In 1986, Moran was inducted into the '' Blade Magazine'' Cutlery Hall of Fame. Two years later in 1988, Moran and the ABS founded a Bladesmithing School in cooperation with

Texarkana College Texarkana College is a public community college in Texarkana, Texas. History Texarkana College was formed in 1927, as a branch of the Texarkana Independent School District, which voted to proceed with plans for establishment of a community co ...

. The campus was located in

Washington, Arkansas Washington is a city in Ozan List of Arkansas townships, Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000 United States Ce ...

near the place where James Black, made the first Bowie knife. In 1996, Moran was inducted into the

Hall of Fame as an inauguree. From 1988 to 2001, Moran taught at least one class a year at the school. Upon his retirement from teaching in 2001, the school was renamed the "William F. Moran School of Bladesmithing". As of 2008, the American Bladesmith Society is in the process of creating a Moran Museum as a wing of a new Frederick County Library in Middletown, Maryland, less than a mile from where Moran's shop stood.

References

External links