Beaver Lake Forge

09/18/2026

09/07/2026

Made some more progress today - Time to plumb the hydraulics...

09/06/2026

Finally got back to working on the Forge Press. Most the frame is welded out. Got the frame for base/cart put together. Made some "feet" to mount the casters and got those drilled, tapped and welded onto the base. Managed to make some chips on the Mill - thats always agood day.

08/28/2026

A little production run this evening......😁an even dozen to start with - 2 planned... We'll see how many end up in the scrap pile. 🤫

08/27/2026

Made some tooling for the Fly Press and the Treadle Hammer - this evening, I ran a new Bottle Opener through the process. A few tweaks here and there and it will be dialed.....😎

08/22/2026

Another Fly Press tool is complete! To speed up my Bottle Opener production, I built this "punch" tool for the Fly Press. Old school process required - "heat" the blank and hand punch / drift a slot 1/8" x 3/4" - typically took 2 - 3 heats. Then a use a slim tapered punch from 1/8" to 1/2" to open the slot to an oval - another 2 heats. Then drive a long-tapered drift from 1/2" to 1" to expand the hole. Took 3-4 more heats. Then another heat for "loop" refinement on the Anvil Horn. Somewhere between 8 and 11 heats. New process - punch a slot cold with a hydraulic punch/die setup. One heat to open the slot to an oval, one heat and one stroke in the Fly press with the new punch tool. Has a built-in st****er to take the blank off the punch on the upstroke and then one more heat to refine the loop. Cut the time to produce one Bottle opener by 70% in heats and handling! I think I can reduce that some more once I get the "routine" down.😁

08/21/2026

More Tool Organization this evening. Needed some loops to hang these power hammer dies!