From the mountains of western Montana
When we say we’re a “family business,” we mean it.
It all started in 2012 when Kirk began making metal openers for his buddies (just for fun)… Soon, he started receiving orders from local gift shops and Leslie jumped in to help fulfill orders from time to time. Now we are supplying our products to breweries, resorts, National Parks and more…and we are still having fun!
Since then, we have grown our small family business from our backyard shed to our new shop location in the heart of Missoula, plus we’re expanding our team! But don’t worry, we still create everything by hand. (even our daughter Paige and her Papa like to help out in the shop! ;)
In a nutshell
We are a:
→ Family Biz with a quirky sense of humor
What we love:
→ Beer, disc golf, adventuring in the mountains
Why we do what we do:
→ We love having a business that gives us the freedom to hang out with our family and head into the mountains at a moments notice- plus we love being a part of the #MadeInMontana maker community!
Creating our products allows us to spread our love of Montana, the outdoors, and quality goods while connecting us to an amazing community of makers, gift shop owners, and anyone who appreciates a good drink. Cheers!
We named our company after our dog Moose + our favorite recreation area “Blue Mountain”
Moose was a border collie blue heeler mix that we adopted from a shelter as a puppy. Although we said goodbye to Moose last year, he totally inspired so many things for Blue Moose Metals during his time:
🐾 our name
🐾 our logo
🐾 our most popular product, the Pooping Dog Bottle Opener and Stopper
PLUS, he’s inspired us to partner with the Humane Society of Western Montana for National Dog Day! (which is how we ended up with our new pup Koda 🐶 full circle!! We know!!)
OUR PROCESS
inspired by our love of nature and the outdoors
We care about attention to detail and the fact that each opener is made by hand from start to finish making each one a unique piece of functional art.
Kirk sketches all of our designs by hand. He gets his inspiration from our family adventures and the beautiful Montana landscape, as well as our favorite extracurriculars (whether that be disc golf or beer drinking) with a twist of his quirky sense of humor.
Then, he creates a CAD file (Computer Aided Design) of his sketches, so the laser machine can cut the designs out of 10gauge 100% steel.
We get our parts cut in Montana, because it’s important to us to keep everything as local as possible.
We use a handheld dremel and angle grinder to smooth the edges and add texture to the metal. After we add the details by hand, the parts go into a tumbling machine that polishes the steel until its buttery smooth
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Then, we finish the pieces by hand- one at a time. We use a variety of steel patinas to create a torch or bronze finish. We spray everything with a clear coat to seal the color, protect the finish, and make it pop!
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Kirk designs ALL of our custom packaging, too! We print on sturdy recycled material to showcase our products in an elevated way that makes them ready for gifting. ;)
We give back
We have loved partnering with the Humane Society of Western Montana to celebrate National Dog Day! We’ve also donated our products to various wildlife foundations and conservancies. Keep an eye out for our next charitable campaign coming soon!