Howdy all, I have been lurking around the forum for a few days now and decided I'd better post an introduction. I am going to college at Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana, but my home town is in southern Indiana. My major is mechanical engineering technology, and I love the outdoors. I like to hunt, fish, hike, and just spend time outside. For a long time I have had a fascination with blacksmithing, when I was younger I dug a hole in the ground and tried to make it into a forge. I would like to construct a proper forge and try my hand at this, which leads into my first couple of questions.
I already have access to an anvil, my dad shoes horses and has one for that. I would like to construct a simple, cheap forge to get started with. I am thinking a coffee can forge or paint can, whichever I can find first. Here is the site that I found with instructions on building a coffee can forge http://zoellerforge.com/coffee.html the fuel would be provided by a bernz-o-matic torch. Is there a simpler design that I should use? I eventually would like to try bladesmithing once I get the basics down, so would this forge be a good choice for that? Also what are some good beginner projects to get started with once I get my forge constructed?
Thanks,
C.M. Brown