Why Does My Fly Press Only Come with One Handle Rod?

“Why does my fly press only come with one handle rod?”

That was the question I opened with in a video I published on December 27, 2024.

My #5 Karachi fly press came with one handle rod. As I understood the lineup at the time, numbers 1 through 5 came with one, number 6 came with two, and the larger presses came with all three.

I don’t know the reasoning behind those choices. I wondered whether it was partly concern about an additional handle coming around and catching the operator. Whatever the reason, I was finding that one handle meant more repositioning than I wanted.

Another setup, another handle position

At this point, I was still using my rusty tooling plate. I wouldn’t finish the Zero Point base plate until March 27, 2025.

Even then, my collection of tooling setups was growing. With different tools and different work, I often wanted the handle in a different position.

That meant unscrewing the rod from one position and threading it into another. With a 1-inch, eight-thread-per-inch connection, it wasn’t something I enjoyed repeating every time a setup called for a change.

I wanted more handle positions available without moving the same rod around.

Making the parts I couldn’t find

I looked for additional handles through the retailer where I bought my press and through other retailers, but I couldn’t find any offered at the time.

So I made my own. Two of them.

I machined them on my Logan lathe, matching the original rod’s length and nominal thread specification: 1 inch in diameter, 17 inches long, with eight threads per inch.

Checking the eight-threads-per-inch spacing while making a handle rod on my Logan lathe.

I left them unpainted, with a bare, oiled finish.

The original handle always felt loose in my press. When I machined my additional rods, I made the threads for a closer fit in my particular machine. The nominal size was the same, but I preferred the fit of the rods I made.

The finished threaded end of my shop-made handle rod.

These were additional handles for my own setup, not a reason to disregard the clearance around the press. More rods change what moves through the operator’s space.

The handle that became a product

After I shared the handles, people started asking for them.

That led me to list the handle rod on pwrforge.com. As I remember it, it was my first listing. I believe it also became my best seller.

It was a straightforward shop-made solution to a problem I had encountered myself. Other people apparently wanted the same thing.

What I hadn’t expected was how much that first listing would influence the direction of Power Forge online.

A useful detour, but still a detour

I originally created the website for everyday carry items, including my inspirational coins. Fly press accessories weren’t the reason I started it.

The handle rod opened the door to more tooling listings. Over time, that work pulled attention away from the original focus of the store.

I’m now bringing that focus back.

I’ve taken the fly press range out of active online sales so I can put more energy into the EDC work I intended to build the site around. I hope to expand that range beyond coins as I develop more products.

That doesn’t mean leaving the fly press work behind. I still use these tools, still develop ideas for my own shop, and still want to share what I learn. Individual tooling requests can be discussed directly, with agreed work handled by invoice.

Workshop Notes gives those projects a home without making them the center of the storefront.

And the handle rod belongs in that story. It was a small solution to an everyday frustration, and it helped shape what came next.