Lon:

Bill Moran told me that he used medium or dark brown Fiebing's leather dye to color his handles. He also told me that sometimes he would mix in a drop of red in the application bottle.

I know that Bill Moran purchased his curly maple from Wayne Dunlap in Chantilly, Virginia. I first went to Wayne Dunlap's shop with Master Smith Jack Fuller who had last gone there with Bill Moran several years before. The curly maple and several other hardwoods that he has on hand are highly figured. The website for Dunlap Woodcrafts is http://www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com/

Nice website Dan, Im gonna order some handles from them..

Bill Moran shows his process in his Handles and Guards video. Which I believe is available on the ABS site. If I recall correctly he used feiblings and then after that he did a linseed oil soak.