SnazzySwede

Wow thank you so much guys.  I have been in the process of moving so I just got around to reading all this.  I will be pouring over all that has been said and am gonna find that book and dive into it.  This is a child hood dream of mine and I can’t wait to finally start.  Thank you all so much for the replies! You guys are super supportive! Can’t wait to get addicted, Frosty haha

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.