Power Forge & Workshop

I’m Garon Power, the maker behind Power Forge & Workshop in St. Jacob, Illinois. I design and make inspirational coins, develop everyday carry gear, and build tools for my workshop. Everything I make starts with a personal connection: something I’ve needed, struggled with, or wanted to bring into the world.

I spent more than two decades in the military. Carrying a few essentials was part of daily life, whether I was in the field or in garrison. A knife, a pen, a notebook, a small wallet, a challenge coin. We didn’t call it everyday carry. It was just what we carried.

Philosophy has interested me since I was young. After my first deployment to Afghanistan, I began learning more about Stoicism. Putting it into practice has been slower work. I’m still learning. A coin in my pocket made sense as a reminder to pause, put things in perspective, and act on what matters.

In 2019, that idea became a note about making simple, heavy metal coins without paint or color. It led me to order a CNC mill before I knew how to run one, attend precision machining school, and learn how to make the dies and forge the coins.

By my retirement in 2023, I had made my first two coin designs. I gave “This Too Shall Pass Away” coins to my mentors at my retirement ceremony, held on a small mountaintop. The invitation included grid coordinates. If you wanted to attend, you had to hike up.

Since then, I’ve kept refining my techniques, learning from mistakes, and making coins. My stainless-steel coins are made by me, one at a time. My bronze-finish designs are produced by a U.S.-based, veteran-owned minting partner.

This shop, my Workshop Notes, and my YouTube channels are places to share what I make and what I learn along the way. I don’t have it all figured out. But I’m still making things, and still moving forward.