new kid on block

Hello all
Bob here a 69 year young great grandpa going to try my hand at working with steel. building a small brick pile forge and going to make me a burner. hope fully i can make one that will be forced air to burn natural gas as i am heating house and water with it. so far i know i will have to use a blower and that it probably will not produce enough heat to forge weld. but until i gain enough experience working with metal i hope it will produce enough heat to make kitchen knives of all sorts. after i get my forge completed and working correctly next project is a 2 x 72 belt sander. i have a 1 x 36 sander that i made and it will get me by i hope for a start until i see if i really do like working with a forge. the other equipment i have gathered so far includes a small bench drill press, a 5 inch vise, and a 24 inch piece of rail iron that came from a yard so is not worn to terribly bad. i also have a 1.5 pound, and a 3 pound both being cross peen hammers.

any and all comments will be great fully accepted.