So, I'm 23, don't have a lot of money, pretty much no tools to use, and have a burning interest in this craft. I have procured with my limited budget a railroad tie for an anvil, and a ball peen hammer (for now), and now need a forge. I have seen so many opinions and options that are all over the place. Coke/coal and gas forges, what kind of brick, insulation, what kind of burners, what kind of shape..etc, etc. Eventually, I stumbled upon this awesome website with what seems to be a wealth of knowledge. In my reading of posts like "Forges 101 and Burners 101" I have discovered that I really don't have the context or requisite knowledge to understand these posts. I kind of don't understand where to start asking questions and google has not helped other than sending me to YouTube and "instructables." So my question is, what does a beginner like myself do when I can't weld, don't really have any power tools outside of a drill, and am not even sure what a proper design is? More importantly, my biggest question is, where can I begin learning the proper basic knowledge to get a grasp of what is on this form? I do not want someone to see this and think I am just wanting someone to do the research and summary for me. I love learning and want to be able to invest into this and do this all correctly. So what direction do I go to get this boat moving? Thank you.
