American Stainless Damascus, Galvanic Corrosion, & Walkie-Talkies! TFN

Big week for all of us at Baker as we FINALLY drop our very first batch of production stainless damascus. A journey that took over a year and consumed our time, energy, and resources finally comes to its dramatic pinnacle! More on this weekend’s exciting “Zeus” drop later, though….As I mentioned a week or two back, the momentum toward the holiday season is all but palpable around here. Custom and retail orders alike are rolling in and have us considering only two things, consistency, and output. With loads of billets being pounding Jay had a BIG restock on endcuts ready to hit the site early in the week. On Tuesday we put out a little story mention on socials and ya’ll found em! Remember– if you’re desperate to snag a box of our extremely reasonable end-cuts and set up a notification when they’re back in stock on the app, this is the best way to guarantee yourself a box!

Earlier this week, friend of the business, Alex Norton of Valhalla Iron Works posted a very

helpful educational video on ‘Galvanic Corrosion’. In the video he provides more background on the concept before dismissing many of the common misconceptions. We highly recommend viewers familiar with the concept check it out! You can find it on Alex’s YouTube channel here.In an effort to find further consistency and communication in our business, we developed an updated “RACI” this week. Designed to allocate responsibility and create a chain of command within the business, the discussion surrounding this outline invited a helpful delegation of responsibilities and freed upper management to stick to their extensive roles without being constantly berated with questions and approval requests. Just another example of how we are working every day to provide better products and services to our customers with the most efficiently run business possible. 

Along the same thread, our manufacturing team decided to address communication on the shop floor as a purpose of upgrade this week. Walking between stations in our 11,000 square foot facility multiple times a day to ask quick questions was resulting in lost machine time and over-walked blacksmiths, so Jay and his team established a new hand-held radio communication system that has all of the production team at their stations, only a radio call away for a quick question or response. Already a hit for productivity-sake, Jay reports that these walkie-talkies were among his better ideas for the team. 

In other production-related news: Head engineer Cole has been refining speed & feed rates to nail efficient milling of our new stainless layouts. It’s always about learning and refining around here! 

Last but certainly not least, Jay brought around the Baker boy’s childhood go-cart recently.

Not currently running, Jay and the guys are planning to enjoy some afterwork fabbing to get that bad boy back in riding shape. With a staff made up almost entirely of husbands & fathers there’s no shortage of kiddos to enjoy a Go-Cart around here but something tells me it’ll be the guys themselves taking this bad boy for its first few spins. 

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Inside the Media

Monday’s Question was a true hit. We can always tell when you start to see comments within the post receiving 40 and 50 likes that we had a good one lined up. Additionally a little verbal back-and-fourth is always fun to witness and representative of a LIVE and interactive audience. We’re lining up some really fun Halloween and holiday themed Questions for the next month or two, so stay tuned! After weeks of editing together our Chambersburg install video, Waylon could finally check back into a regular work life starting Monday of this week. With a hit on our hands in his longform upload, however, we spent some time this week going over potential YouTube ideas for the next big video. There’s a passion to create longer videos that I believe you can sense in what Waylon has been working on lately and we look forward to bringing our audience more long form in the future.

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Sneak Peek 👀

The wait is FINALLY over—Baker Forge’s first stainless Damascus drop is here with “Zeus” Stainless Damascus in Ripple pattern! After over a year of building our production line, we’re proud to be the only American manufacturer bringing you this AEBL and 154CM blend, etched with Gator Piss MAX for crisp, high-contrast patterns that flow with iconic mid-layer waves. Flat-ground and ready in various sizes, this HIGHLY anticipated drop is SURE to sell out fast– hit the Baker Forge App Friday at noon EST for the best selection, or join the full release Saturday at 8pm EST.