Ballard Forge

Oh man... What a weekend. The conference was a blast. Once in awhile, things come together where the instructor and students both get to push the boundaries of discovery, together. The made it's public debut and while I originally envisioned 5/8" rivet capacity, the way it absolutely crushed 3/4" makes me think it could do twice that size. Once again I am going backwards in my forging journey- flywheel driven mechanical hammers and toggle links were thought to have been obsolete not long ago. From what I have seen this tool is doing a better job than presses 2 to 3 times its size. Check out a lovely close up video from 's view of the event. As always, kills it with his insight and technical prowess demonstrating the Puget sound felling axe.