Damascus Skills

Sun., Feb. 4, 1996

Tacoma News Tribune

Knife-making

You’ve heard of Damascus steel, the layered combination of iron and steel? Bill Moran, knife-maker from Maryland, has reinvented it.

More than a century ago, Damascus steel was highly prized for its beauty and was widely used for making gun barrels and knives.

But “Damascus twist” barrels became obsolete because it couldn’t withstand the pressures of modern gunpowders. About the same time it fell out of favor for knife-making.

In the early 1970s, Moran wanted to learn the craft of forging blades from Damascus steel, but nobody else was doing it. There was no one to teach him. Library research proved futile.

He started to experiment. Numerous times he nearly gave up. But after nearly three years, he finally found his way. And now he’s passing along the craft to anyone who wants it in a 90-minute videotape.

It’s available for $72.50 from Damascus, P.O. Box 2077, Olympia, WA 98507, telephone (360) 753-6846.

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