KnifeLegends Features Shaun and Sharla Hansen and Corrado Moro

KnifeLegends examines the work of three custom knifemakers whose different backgrounds and methods reflect the range of skills.

BROOKLINE, MA, UNITED STATES, October 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — KnifeLegends examines the work of three custom knifemakers whose different backgrounds and methods reflect the range of skills found in handmade knife making. Shaun and Sharla Hansen, a husband-and-wife team from Utah, are known for engraved folding art knives and detailed handle work. Italian maker Corrado Moro draws on years of toolmaking and mechanical engineering experience to create folding knives with visible mechanical features. Their work offers insight into how personal skills, technical knowledge, and design choices shape custom knives.

Shaun and Sharla Hansen Build a Shared Approach to Knife Making

Based in Bluffdale, Utah, Shaun and Sharla Hansen entered the custom knife field in 1999. The couple works together throughout the creative process, from the first design ideas to the final finish. Their knives often feature engraved surfaces, carved handles, decorative inlays, and carefully planned forms. They follow a method known as sole authorship, meaning that the makers complete the work themselves rather than dividing separate stages among outside specialists. This approach allows each knife to reflect their shared skills and individual contributions.

The Shaun and Sharla Hansen custom knife process can include drawing, cutting, forging, hammering, engraving, inlaying, and polishing. Shaun develops Damascus steel patterns, while Sharla focuses on handle carving and engraving. Materials used in their handle work include white mother-of-pearl, fossil ivory, and walrus bone. Sharla’s engraving has included Victorian-style designs and 24-karat gold inlays. These methods bring metalwork, surface decoration, and handle design together in a single piece.

Engraving and Handle Work Shape Their Art Knives

The Hansens are known for manual and automatic folding art knives. Their designs combine the working parts of a folding knife with decorative details that require careful planning. Engraving adds patterns to metal surfaces, while carved handles provide another area for artistic expression. Damascus steel offers visual variety through patterns formed in the material. Each element must fit the overall design, so the placement of decoration and the shape of the handle influence the finished knife’s appearance.

Some of the couple’s newer automatic designs have been described as featuring a credit-card-style lockout mechanism developed by the makers. Their work has also received recognition at knife shows, including reported Best New Maker and Jim Schmidt awards in New York and Atlanta. These achievements form part of their record in the custom knife field. Their work brings design, metalwork, engraving, and handle carving together under the hands of the same two makers.

The “Knife in a Knife” Presents an Unusual Design

One notable Hansen creation is known as the “Knife in a Knife.” The piece combines a large Persian-style fixed blade measuring 21 inches with a smaller double-action automatic knife housed within it. The smaller knife can be removed from either side. The design brings two separate knife forms into one object, requiring the makers to consider how the parts fit together and how the overall piece is presented.

This creation also shows the range of ideas found in art knife making. Some makers focus on surface decoration, while others explore unusual arrangements or mechanical features. The Hansens’ work includes both approaches. Their interests outside the workshop include horseback pack trips, hunting, fishing, and flying aircraft they built themselves. They have also described family as a central part of their lives. These details provide a broader picture of the people behind the work.

Corrado Moro Brings Toolmaking Experience to Custom Knives

Corrado Moro’s path into knife making began with a career in toolmaking in Italy. Soon after completing his education, he started work in a role that involved construction, installation, and electrical discharge machining, commonly called EDM. He remained with the same company for 23 years. Other accounts of his background also refer to design engineering, project development, and milling. This technical experience gave him a strong foundation in machining and the way mechanical parts fit and move together.

Alongside his regular employment, Moro set up a workshop for independent projects. This work allowed him to build on his existing skills and learn new methods. In 2007, mutual friends introduced him to master knifemaker Charlie Bennica. The two formed a lasting friendship and continued to exchange ideas about knife making. Their connection became one part of Moro’s development as a maker, while his own workshop gave him room to explore designs beyond his regular technical work.

A Career Change Followed a Knife Show in Bologna

A major turning point came in 2012, after Moro attended a local knife show in Bologna. He received an invitation to exhibit at the East Coast Custom Knife Show in New York. After returning to Italy, he left his job and began working as a full-time knifemaker. This marked a shift from a long career in toolmaking to a profession centred on his own designs.

Moro received the Best Folder award at the Bologna Show in October 2012. His Vanquish folding knife later won the Most Artistic Knife award at the FICX show in Paris in September 2017. He is also a member of the Italian Knife Makers Guild, known as CIC. These milestones place his work within the custom knife community and show how his designs have gained recognition at events in Italy and abroad.

The Tourbillon and Vanquish Reflect His Mechanical Interests

The Corrado Moro custom knife designs include the Tourbillon, named after a mechanism used in watchmaking. The design makes the pivot and locking mechanism visible, turning part of the knife’s construction into a central visual feature. A version described in dealer listings uses a sapphire crystal that allows the mechanism inside the pivot to be seen as the blade opens and closes. The concept connects the movement of a folding knife with the visible mechanics often associated with fine watches.

Moro’s Vanquish model takes its name from the Aston Martin supercar. Reports on the design describe high-precision ball bearings and carefully aligned screws. These details reflect his interest in the link between mechanical function and visible form. Rather than hiding every internal part, selected mechanisms become part of the design itself. This gives viewers a chance to see how the parts relate to one another.

Different Forms of Craft Across Folding Knives and Fixed Blades

The work of the Hansens and Moro reflects the range of forms found in custom knife making. A folding knife has a blade that pivots into the handle, so its design must account for the movement and fit of its parts. Makers may also consider the lock, pivot, handle shape, and placement of decorative features. Moro’s designs bring these mechanical elements into view, while the Hansens combine folding mechanisms with engraving, carved handles, and inlays.

Fixed blades offer a different design structure because the blade does not fold into the handle. The Hansens’ “Knife in a Knife” provides one example of a fixed-blade form combined with a smaller folding mechanism. Across these designs, materials and construction methods affect both appearance and structure. Looking at these differences helps explain why custom knife makers often develop distinct approaches based on their skills, interests, and preferred design forms.

KnifeLegends Documents Makers and Custom Knife History

KnifeLegends is a custom knife company based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Founded in 2004, the company focuses on collectible handmade knives created by makers in the United States and other countries. Its collection includes folding knives, fixed blades, engraved knives, and other handmade pieces. KnifeLegends also maintains information about individual makers, knife styles, materials, and the history of custom knife making.

The company’s coverage reflects different generations, regions, and design traditions within the custom knife community. It includes established American makers as well as international craftsmen whose work reflects local knife-making heritage. The backgrounds of Shaun and Sharla Hansen and Corrado Moro fit within this wider record. Their careers show how shared artistic work, technical training, and individual design interests can lead to different results within the same craft.

About KnifeLegends

KnifeLegends is a custom knife company based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Founded in 2004, the company focuses on collectible handmade knives by makers from the United States and other countries. Its collection includes folding knives, fixed blades, engraved knives, and other handmade pieces. KnifeLegends documents makers, design styles, materials, and custom knife history, presenting work from a range of regions and traditions.

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KnifeLegends
Address: Brookline, MA 02446 USA
Phone: 617-731-3499
Email: pshindler@comcast.net

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