doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Galazan knives

Mark, in 1974, when I had just moved into the house where I now live, I drove up to Bill Moran's shop and asked him if he would make me a set of fireplace tools and andirons because the stuff I had was a bit dainty for the new place. Of course, his first comment was "Do you know how much I get for my time?" I allowed that I was aware of his reputation but I still needed andirons. We got to talking about knives, guns, and the state of the world. He asked if I knew anything about Damascus shotguns. I told him I had a small baggo fairly nice Damascus guns, liked them just fine. He asked if I could "bringum up" so he could look at them. Well, I brought them up, my Granddad's 1887 Lefever pigeon gun, my 16 gauge 0 frame GHE Parker, my Westley Richards 8 bore, and a couple of others that I don't remember. He spent quite a while looking them over, we talked about my fireplace and what he and I thought were proper designs for forks and log pickers and such. In a couple of weeks, he called me to come up for a visit. I don't remember if I brought up any more shotguns, but when I got there, he had my andirons and tools laid out. They were beautiful. I feared the worst from a guy that made $5000 knives. His bill was in the neighborhood of $140 as I remember. I don't know if he had made any Damascus blades at that point in time and never mentioned that he had that in his plans. I still have the andirons and tools and I guess they were the last ones he ever made. He probably hadn't made any for 15 years when he made mine. Oh well, when I was just a pup, Bill was just a blacksmith. . Bill Murphy

Foe good working damascus knives, check out Ray Coon's site!
Craig

Great story 8Bore! ANy chance you could leave those too me in your will!?!

Word has it that there will be a little museum dedicated to "The Man" up here in Frederick. I don't know who is going to fund it or where the stuff will come from, but they sold a bundle of personal things at auction when he died. It probably went for less than it would have because it rained buckets the day of the main auction. I don't know what the fate of the shop, the forges, or the sign is. I haven't been by there since the auction last year. The man knew how to handle a fire and a hammer. The hammer ins up here every year were well attended but I'm not a knife guy so I never went. When I visited him at the shop, he never seemed to give a darn that I wasn't a knife guy. He would show you stuff and tell you about stuff just like you were going to order ten thousand dollars worth of knives. I was only a kid when I started going up there, was still in my twenties when I ordered the andirons and tools. I just feel like I had a little something to do with him getting started in making modern Damascus. I'm glad you liked the story, Marc. Bill Murphy

Great story Bill, I liked it too!

JC

Mr. Moran's Obituary in the Washigton Post.

JC

Great story eightbore. Several years ago I bought a simple flower stand (that looked more like a stool)at a garage sale. When I got it home and started looking at it I realized it wasn't so simple after all. A blacksmith had made it with several twists and turns and the feet are flattened to a nice flare. I have known a few smiths (mainly from shoeing horses) but they can really make some intrique designs. Especially in fences and gates....... And thanks for the info on the damascus knives, guys. I too had always looked at Galazans knives and wondered of their quality. Good luck.

Marc, some clients of mine rebuild and supply parts for old hammers. It might be just as easy to get an old rebuilt or to use their parts as part of your build.


http://www.LittleGiantHammer.com

Good Luck, Steve

I had this little bird knife made with left over wood from my CSMC Fox. The guy did fantastic work.

Outstanding, Kevin!