Show me your Bottle Openers!

[ThomasPowers]

I don't use the hardy hole or horn making bottle openers; so I don't understand?

"There is only 1 *right* way to do blacksmithing and that is *ANY* *WAY* *THAT* *WORKS*!"

[JHCC]

I think Bonnskij means that the absence of a hardy hole makes it harder to punch and drift the hole, and the absence of a horn makes it harder to forge out the ring over its tip.

[ThomasPowers]

 A collection of large hex head nuts can help punch and drift on a flat surface as can putting the drift "head" on the anvil face and pushing the work piece down on it---again a hex nut dropped over the drift can help.

Of course making a bickern is a nice thing to do if you will be needing one a lot.  A bolster plate with ascending sized holes helps too.

[Bonnskij]

That's it. I keep on accumulating improvised tools and things. But at the moment, though the traditional ring style bottle opener is quite doable, it would just be a very inefficient design for me to make. So on bottle openers, instead of being inventive on the tool side of things, i've decided to be inventive on the product side to get around the challenges.

[ThomasPowers]

By shear luck I have managed to find a bolster plate of 1/2" steel with ascending sized holes drilled in it at my local scrapyard. (I keep it by the screwpress and use more "improvised" bolsters at the anvil(s).)