It’s been half a century since that day in 1973 when BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bill Moran placed eight of his damascus knives on his table at the Knifemakers’ Guild Show in Kansas City. Since then, the knife industry simply hasn’t been the same.
In one historic reveal, Moran woke a sleeping giant. His knives brought not only damascus/pattern-welded but also forged steel to the forefront.
While there were farriers and other craftsmen in the USA that worked in forged and welded steel at the time, they were more interested in the overall utility and quality of the finished product than the aesthetics of the steel itself. On the other hand, pattern-welded steel among American smiths who forged knives and swords was dormant.
Moran’s big move was intended to operate on several levels. He wanted to preserve the art of bladesmithing. He wanted to help establish the art knife as a genre. And he wanted to energize the knife collector market. To simply say that he accomplished all three would be an understatement. He achieved those
