Jacey,
I still don’t fully “get” forging. I push buttons and things work. I use vanstens method (or a modification of it) and it produces defect/quirk free tools every time that are all 320+. Last night I made several 350s and 360s.
It IS intimidating, but his primer will literally walk you through everything. I started with hammers and now can do anything. It’s great.
Once you realize that as long as you save 200 vigor for a decon resin 3, you can always start over, no matter how deep you get.
PM me if you have questions. Happy to help.