/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Hey guys, my 1st time posting here, i hope it's in the right part of the 4chan...
So i need some advice..
I decided to start with knifemaking (or bladesmithing later on), I am a designer by education and I make stuff out of wood (mostly jewelry and room decoration stuff...) but since I was a little kid I always wanted to make blades....don't know why...
So here are my questions:
1. What kind of anvil would be best to start with? I am still student and at the moment my €€€ situation is kind of lame....so my main dilemma is, should I buy this iron plate (~60kg) for 40€ or should I go for proper anvil (~20kg = 150€)....I like the plate cause it's heavy and if I need "curves" i guess I could just grind one side and make round edge?

2. What kind of furnance should I make myself? I do already have started to make a coal powered furnance since I like "old school" methods...with hair dryer for starter and proper air blower later... but when I was watching videos on YT most of the blacksmiths use propane powered thingy....I can also make that, but I wonder, what is the "consumption of propane" with this method? I guess it's way more expensive than coal? (here 1 propane tank 10kg = 20€ VAT incl..)....

These two are my main questions for now...But i'll be back with more surely...