Hello, I am finally getting into forging. I've wanted to learn for many years and my 7 year old son expressed interest in it recently, so here I am. I built a forge out of loose bricks in my backyard and started out using lump charcoal. We made some tongs and those work OK. Then I tried to make a scoop out of a railroad spike and that just sort of turned into a ridiculous looking butter knife lol.
I bought an anvil from Harbour Freight, (you know the one) and that's already beat to hell. I am thinking I should just get a block of steel, but I don't know what would be the best thing for me yet.
I also built everything low to the ground so my boy could have easy access to it, but that was a fool move because my back fell off. So, I'm still trying to figure out how to set things up, but it's fun. Oh, I bought actual coal and I learned an awful lot that night lol. I'm thinking I'll eventually buy a propane forge. We'll see...
Rex