Every night this week I've been in the shop with an oxy acetylene torch and a hammer trying to beat things into different things. But I feel like I'm pissing uphill without a proper forge and an anvil. I've looked around on the net for a forge but I'm very unsure of what to look for, and obviously anvils have gone full retard on pricing.

But if anyone can point me in the right direction or give me some tips on how to get started I would appreciate it. I could also use some info on what to use for quenching, and a decent belt sander to do finish work. I have a big 20-24" wheel grinder, and a big 4" belt grinder but neither of them seem too great for finishing up a blade profile.

Might have asked this before, but where do you live?  If your close to Salem I would be happy to spend a day with you at my shop.

I'm nearly 5 hours away from Salem, but I honestly might take you up on that sometime. I was thinking about looking around for a class locally.

If you would like we can set up something.   We can even build you a forge....

We have a decent set up for a fabrication shop on the farm, couple drill presses, a lathe, manual mill, a couple bench grinders, couple vises, wheel sander, belt sander, a press, a welder, and all the small filler stuff. But I'm completely ignorant on forging. I've saved a few things over the years to try one day, railroad spikes, pipe wrenches, worm gears, and some gears from the rear and of a truck. So I've decided to try it out but I don't have the right tools or skills yet.

That sounds awesome, my farming schedule is kind of wild right now but I would love to get there for a day.

It really takes hands on to wrap your head around it.  Your shop sounds great.  Everything you might need for basic knife making.  If you decide you want some formal lessons we can talk.  If you just want to run up for a Saturday your welcome.

I really appreciate the offer, I'll get in touch with you about it.

I'd jump on the chance to learn a thing or two in person from bldsmith, he's been very helpful in our unofficial metalworking thread.

Building a propane forge and burner should be cake if you've got metalworking equipment already.  Mine is done with an old propane tank, a 3" section of 2" pipe, a double layer of 1" thick ceramic wool (ebay was the cheapest, bought enough for ~10 forges for $100), a sprayed on wool rigidizer called Cabosil (AKA fumed silica), and then covered in Kast-o-lite 26 refractory cement. Total cost was maybe $200 with shipping, and I have supplies left to make many more. 

The burner I made cost around $45, just some 3/4" black iron pipe, some brass fittings, a .035 mig tip, and a 0-20 PSI propane regulator.

 If you don't want to go that route, a coal forge is even cheaper and easier to make, but requires a more attention to how hot your steel is getting.  Maybe $30 total cost to get going, much less if your wife has a blow dryer that can go missing 

For an anvil, the real deal is the best, but there are a lot of decent alternatives.
ETA: I throw this out there a lot, but fork lift tines make good anvils.  This is just a chunk of one I use as a clean portable anvil every now and then.  My actual anvil is over 100 years old and the previous owners put some use into it. If I need a clean edge, I can drop this into the ground and hammer away.  It was ~25 cents a pound at the scrap yard, my real anvil was just over $4 a pound, and I'd be really lucky to find one for less than $6 a pound a year and a half later.
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I'd definitely like to go propane forge, thanks for the info on details and pricing. All the ones online seem to be about $500, I'm sure bldsmith will help get me started with that.

Absolutely!   Most expensive item will be the regulator.   We can put one together in an afternoon.

We have a lot of pieces of what we call bed bars for our hydraulic press, but it's basically 2"x4" solid that I could use as a good surface. We have 2 welding tables that are 3/4" plate with big legs on some 8" wheels that I could mount one on. We build lots of big stuff, but I've taken a shine to forging lately.

I saw the metalworking thread and would love to see a dedicated section, I have quite a few projects that I know people wouldn't mind seeing.

*checks* Yup, I've got shop envy. Lucky hard working bastage!

Forging is therapeutic.   If your feeling frustrated there's nothing like beating hot steel.

Spiral Out, that's a beautiful hammer. Looks pike a very effective tool, I've been using a 3-4 lb cross pein hammer that seems to be doing okay. Did you forge that one?

I wish I could say yes   That is an Alec Steele 2.5lb square circle hammer.  He's a blacksmith with an amazing Youtube channel.  He also teaches classes where you get to go make all the tools required to make a hammer, then on the last day you forge your own.  I wasn't able to make it when he came to North America, so I bought one from him.  One day I'll make the trek to the UK for a class in his shop. Going to be tough getting a spot now that he's a Youtube superstar though haha.

Hell, now that I think about it, he sells striking anvils for about $200 shipped.  They're mild steel, but that's no big deal, and easy to repair.  The hardy hole will come in handy later on down the road.  With your shop, you might be able to make your own though  http://alecsteeleblacksmith.com/anvils/striking-anvil

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Soup-Can-Forge/





once I find a spare hour or two I'm gonna make one of these to play around with.

It's just a little more work to build a real deal forge.  If you can have a coal fire burning, you can do it for less work and less money!  It looks like that one would struggle to heat more than just the end of your stock to forging temps.  If that's what it takes to get you into the hobby though, go for it!

Germane archived thread for additional knowledge: https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1555936_.html

I'm in on this one.  Bladesmith always has good forging posts