TEXARKANA, Texas - The warmth of the forge and the sound of hammering on a hot blade filled the B.R. Hughes Classroom at Texarkana College on Friday during a ceremony for the grand opening of the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
The school, which was launched in 1988 in partnership with the American Bladesmith Society, was the first of its kind in the nation. It recently moved from Historic Washington State Park in Washington, Arkansas, and offers more amenities and access to medical care, while also preserving the history of the craft and its instructional methods.
TC President Dr. Jason Smith said that over the years the school has grown into something special and that they were excited to have the school in Texarkana.
"The American Bladesmith Society and Texarkana College have been partners for many, many decades, and you have grown it into something really special," he said. "It is an incredible international organization, and I am just proud to be a small part of being able to support what you are doing."
Smith said there were many discussions about moving the school to Texarkana, as they knew Moran loved Old Washington but thought the location was holding back many potential students because they didn't have a place to stay.
"The biggest reason is having a facility that our students would be extremely proud of, something that we could support, something that we can have the latest technology and resources available to us. We didn't have that control at Old Washington, but we now have it here at Texarkana College and we are here to support ABS and the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing," he said.
Many ABS members were in attendance at the ceremony, including Hughes, who, while serving as TC's dean of students, was a founding member of ABS and helped create the bladesmith school.
He said James Powell held a hammer-in during the spring of 1984 and had 19 students at the Old Washington site. At that point, Bill Moran said they needed to create a bladesmith school. They then spoke with Dr. Carl "Cheesy" Nelson, who was TC president at the time, and the school was created.
"James was instrumental in the founding of the first school of bladesmithing, not in America, but in the world," Hughes said. "We were the pattern for every bladesmithing school there is."
The school also received a $5,000 donation from Jeff Harris of St. Louis, Missouri, a businessman and a knife collector.
"That was what made it possible and turned the tide, and Dr. Nelson became very proud of the school," Hughes said. "This is something remarkable here. This is the flagship bladesmithing school and I think it has a brilliant future, and we will eternally be grateful to President Smith for his support. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, and I hope it will go on to achieve the highest success I am confident it will attain."
ABS Mastersmith and Chairman Steve Dunn of Smiths Grove, Kentucky, spoke highly of the bladesmith school and said he learned early in life that if you want to learn something correctly, you go to the best. Dunn added that his knifemaking journey began when he took a basic class at Old Washington in 1990, then received a journeyman rating in 1992 and received the mastersmith rating in 1994.
"The really cool thing about this is all the friendships you forge together and I cannot thank Texarkana College enough and the folks that built this wonderful facility for us to work in to teach others our craft that we so dearly love to do," he said.
He added that the ABS now has 2,600 members across the globe.
"I think we've reached our goal on that," Dunn said. "This is a craft that can be passed on. We start young folks out with it. It is something you can make a living out of actually if you work hard."
ABS will also hold the annual Fall Piney Woods Hammer-In today with live demonstrations, breakout sessions on a variety of bladesmithing topics, an auction and networking opportunities with bladesmiths. Tickets are $60 and can be purchased on-site or at the American Bladesmith Society store online at americanbladesmith.com.
On-site registration for the hammer-in will take place today from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. at TC's Career Education Center Annex on Coolidge Avenue, and an auction will be held at 5 p.m. Demonstrations will also be held from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday.
Presentations will cover hand forging, grinding blades, exotic handle materials, stainless San Mai blades, silver wire inlay, Damascus blades, heat-treating blades, frame and d-guard handles and hands-on forging. Demonstrators include Hughes and six bladesmiths who have achieved the ABS mastersmith or journeyman rankings: Joe Keesler, Don McIntosh, Mike Williams, Steve Dunn, Shawn Ellis and Brion Tomberlin.
For more information about the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing, visit learnbladesmithing.com or call 903-823-3270.