cheap any easy forge?

Coal or Gas?

For coal, google "55 Forge Blueprint"
For propane, look up "2 brick forge"
 
Brake drum forges also work. I have been using mine with the cheapest lump charcoal I can find and it has done just fine.
 
Find your local ABANA chapter (or any ABS bladesmith) and ask them about homemade propane forges. Many of them use a 5g propane bottle and reg and a hair dryer for a fan.
 
For the last 10 years I've used a Tim Lively style that I built myself. It works well and you can put it together cheaply. There are also propane forges you can make for next to nothing. It all depends in what you want.
 
Best thing for a propane forge is to find a nearby blacksmith that has built one (likely not too hard) and copy his design or get the basic idea. Hands-on is better than a wall of online text for this stuff. Simple solid fuel forges are super easy to make, just a pan big enough with a grate of drilled holes on the bottom center, with an air blast piped in from some kind of fan or blower. The air supply should be adjustable. This can be a choke flap over the fan intake, a dimmer switch in some cases, a big gate valve, whatever.

Oh, and if you've been told this before, it's for a good reason- filling out your profile will help people to help you. You may find someone nearby, willing to help, that posts here.
 
Google "Tim Lively washtub forge". It's for charcoal and I made mine for around $50 using all new parts.

- Chris
 
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