A solid foundation in the basic techniques gives you the freedom to improvise later on. 

(To quote my old kung fu teacher, who coincidentally died eleven years ago today.)

Give it 3 to 5 and you should have a good grasp of the basics,,, years that is,,, then the real fun begins. 

I saw your interest in the Renaissance period. The two periods that have influenced me the most are Baroque and Art Nouveau.

Enjoy.

Recently I have been looking at designs of Axes, they look a bit easier to construct than swords for the time being, and of course I'll make tools I need as I need them to keep my practice going, first in my list is taking a shot at my first set of Tongs.

On another note, when I fill my Jbod forge with the actual dirt/sand/ash mix, should I fire it to cure or will it be ready as soon as the hole is in it?

It'll be ready to go as soon as it's filled. It's not a refractory like Kastolite that needs to cure or anything. 

My thought process is to fill it a few inches, put the pipe in for the air intake, put a circular object inside to pour dirt around and pack it and remove the object to make the hole, does this sound right or should I just dig the hole after the fact?

Packing the dirt around a removable core is a good idea. A tin can works nicely.

Cool, I have a ton of those

Continuing on the steps, I gave my forge legs today, I used a Walker I had in my shed and secured it with poplar dowel rods (in case I need the walker later I didn't want to make it permanent, never know)

Now there's a neat stand. As long as it holds up to the weight, and it probably will, it'll be fine. 

It's weight rated for 350 pounds, so I'm hoping lol, it's the 1 inch dowels that I'm concerned about. But their stuck in about an inch and I put gorilla glue in the holes so let's see when I fill the box

If you have trouble breaking the dowels make the next JABOD so it JUST fits in the walker. That way you can hang it from a simple ledger or angle iron. 

Yes, compact the soil around a core to make the trench, pot, bowel, pit, whatever. Once you establish what works for what you have in mind doing, you can remake it every time if you wish or need.

Frosty The Lucky.

Found this in my Uncle's basement when I was helping him move in last year, this was before I decided to try blacksmithing and he said I could have it.

No idea when it was made or who made it, but it works just fine when plugged in, tested it using a piece of copper

Good find. Wouldn’t recommend using it for copper, though; soft metals can clog up the grinding wheel. 

I don't plan to again. It was just the only thing he had laying around he would have considered scrap, but its going to be a really fun tool to finish bladed tools with

But thank you for the tip on avoiding soft metal for it

Those old motors often required oil. If that hole before the shaft is an oiler hole id recommend giving it a drop or two of oil once in a while. 

Any idea of the motor speed? Is there a name/info plate on it?

No ID test I could see, but there was paint chipping off of it so it might have lost those markers

Then as now, that info would often be printed or stamped on a separate plate, which would then be attached with rivets or screws. Just guessing from the size, it’s probably 1/4-1/3 hp. Fine for a grinder, not great for a power hammer. 

I only plan on using it to finish flat projects like blades or maybe Hammers... might also be good to smooth or sharpen chisels

I was just curious. Sometimes a slower speed and finer stone is more desirable for finish/ sharpening, and a faster speed courser stone is more for removing material.. faster. 

It "looks" like a coarser stone on it.

Just be careful on how you work a piece on it. Power cutters and grinders are not very forgiving. 

I'll keep thst in mind and test it with pieces to see what it does before using it 9n finished products

Wise. 

I have a question about something before I invest in this:

I have a 3k rpm dremel, if I get metal engraving/grinding bits for it can I use that to make stamps?

Most dremels I know of are variable speed. 

That being said, if you get bits meant for that dremel or high speed bits it should be fine. Most all the stuff ive used in a dremel have been fine to actually use at any speed they reach other than the little buffing wheels or sanding discs. They tend to like slower speeds. 

Good to know, I thought that kind of fine tip tool might be best for making stamps and engravings

Its best when it is best. Small files, chisels and other engraving tools work too when they are the right tool for the job. No one best right way or tool, only what works to get the job done right.