How Much Does It Cost to Start Blacksmithing?

The honest answer: pick one of three budgets

Blacksmithing has a reputation as an expensive hobby, and it can be - but it does not have to be. The wide range in quoted startup costs comes down to two items: the forge and the anvil, which together eat 50-70% of any beginner budget. Everything else (hammer, tongs, vise, safety gear, steel) is cheap by comparison and varies little between budgets.

So instead of one number, plan around three realistic tiers:

• Scrounger ($200-400). Used tools, improvised anvil, charcoal or a bargain import forge. Slower and uglier, but you are genuinely forging.
• Typical beginner ($500-900). All-new entry-level gear: import propane forge, 66 lb cast-steel anvil, new hand tools and PPE. This is the most common path and the one most worth planning for.
• Buy once ($1,200-2,500). A US-made forge, a 100-150 lb anvil you will never outgrow, quality hand tools, and a post vise. Skips one round of upgrades if you already know you are committed.

The table below prices each tier line by line so you can mix and match - plenty of smiths run a scrounger anvil next to a buy-once forge.

Which budget should you actually pick?

Choose the tier that matches your confidence, not your enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is at its lifetime maximum the week you decide to start; confidence about whether you will still be forging next winter is what should spend the money.

The scrounger tier is the right call if you have never held a hammer to hot steel. Everything in it either resells for what you paid (used vise, used hammer) or cost nearly nothing (rail track). If the hobby does not stick, you are out lunch money. The catch is time: expect hours of marketplace hunting and some cleanup work before your first forging session.

The typical tier fits most people who have taken a class or spent a few open-forge nights at a guild and know they want their own setup. Every item is new, safe, and immediately usable, and nothing in it is wasted later - the import forge becomes the backup forge, the 66 lb anvil becomes the portable demo anvil after an upgrade.

The buy-once tier only makes sense when you already know your direction. A 150 lb anvil is a lifetime tool, but it is also a $700 bet that you will still be swinging in five years - and a heavy thing to resell if you are not.

Where the money goes: anvil and forge economics

Anvils are priced by the pound. New import cast-steel anvils run roughly $2.00-2.50/lb (a 66 lb model at $110-160, a 132 lb at $300-350). Quality new anvils from established brands run $6-9/lb, and decent used anvils typically trade at $3-6/lb depending on region and condition - with genuine bargains still showing up at farm auctions. Whatever you look at, check the face: a ball bearing dropped from 10 in should rebound 70% or more, with no torch cuts or deep sway. A dead-soft cast-iron anvil-shaped object is overpriced at any figure. If the math is confusing on a used listing, our budget anvil guide walks through what a fair deal looks like, and a stood-up piece of railroad track remains the classic $0 stand-in.

Forges are priced by build quality, not heat. A $75 import single-burner and a $300 US-made forge both hit forging temperature; the better forge holds it with less propane, survives more relines, and ships with a regulator you would actually trust. Buy the import if cash is tight - just budget for firebrick and a leak test, not blind faith.

Ongoing costs: propane by the hour

Propane is the recurring cost people ask about most, and it is smaller than expected. The math: propane carries about 91,452 BTU per gallon (EIA figure), and a full 20 lb grill tank holds roughly 4.6-4.7 gallons, around 430,000 BTU. A single-burner forge at moderate working pressure draws roughly 40,000-80,000 BTU/hr, so a 20 lb tank delivers roughly 6-10 forging hours.

Refilling that tank at a propane station costs about $12-20 in most of the US (roughly $3-4 per gallon), which works out to $1-2 per forging hour. Two caveats keep that honest:

• Tank exchanges are a bad deal for smiths. Exchange cages charge $20-30 and hand back a tank filled to only about 15 lb - nearly double the per-pound price of a refill.
• Bigger or hotter setups cost more. A double-burner run near welding heat can burn $3-4/hr, and a 20 lb tank may frost up and starve a hungry forge; see propane tank sizes for forges before assuming the grill tank is enough.

For reference, bulk residential propane averaged $2.67 per gallon nationally in the EIA's March 2026 survey - small-cylinder refills always cost more per gallon than home delivery, so use the $3-4 figure for planning.

Steel, consumables, and everything else

Steel is nearly free at practice scale. An S-hook uses about 7 in of 1/4 in bar - pennies. Even a fire poker is a dollar or two of A36 at the $1-2 per foot small-bar prices most steel yards charge. Scrapyard steel by the pound costs less still. Knife steel is the exception: a bar of known 1084 or 5160 from a specialist supplier runs $8-20 per blade's worth, which is still the cheapest part of any knife. Our guide on where to buy steel covers all of these sources.

Consumables are a slow drip rather than a bill: angle-grinder discs, wire brushes, files, sandpaper, borax flux if you try forge welding, and eventually a quench oil. Budget $50-150 a year at hobby pace. The forge lining is the one sneaky item - ceramic-wool liners in budget forges want a patch or reline every year or two of regular use, $20-40 in materials.

How to start cheaper without buying twice

The cheapest path is not the smallest shopping cart - it is avoiding purchases you replace within a year. Five moves that reliably save money:

• Forge at a guild before you buy. ABANA-affiliated groups charge dues of roughly $20-50 a year, and open-forge nights let you test hammer weights and forge styles on someone else's gear.
• Buy the used market for mass, new for precision. Vises, hammers, and anvils survive decades of abuse; buy them used. Regulators, hoses, and safety gear: buy new.
• Improvise the anvil, never the grip. Rail track works; sketchy tongs that drop hot steel do not. If the budget forces a choice, spend on tongs that fit your stock.
• Audit starter kits before trusting them. Some bundles are genuinely fair; others hide a cast-iron anvil behind a good hammer. Price the pieces separately against our starter kit breakdown first.
• Make tools once you can. Tongs, punches, and drifts are classic early projects - forging your own tongs converts practice hours into shop equipment.