Obviously if you can get an anvil that's what you want...
but what if you cant' get one yet?
One of the most famous Smiths of the Viking sagas used and anvil that was just a large flat piece of very hard rock.
Lots of primitive peoples do this still
Bigger and heavier is better, the less it wiggles or jumps the more of you force goes into moving the metal... but anything can work.. a rock, a curb, the hitch of a truck...
Lots of 3rd world anvils are just pieces of metal stuck in teh ground, or wedged into a log, or concreted down...
Here the famous Kukri is forged, using a sledge hammer head as the anvil:
And of course the ubiquitous rail road track anvil
Most folks put the weigh under the part of the track the hit for more stabilty
OR a chunk of carbo steel
Here are listings for 4140 (a good steel for hammers and anvils)
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/4140-steel
If you have 2" by 2" and enough length to mount it to a log or stump that will do...
If you goto your local Steel/metal shop (most citys have several) and ask to go through their drops to buy a hunk of steel.. you can usually find something, and it's pretty cheap and no shipping. goto home depot or lowes and ask the guy who works in that area where the nearest steel shop is.
Here is a super easy one if you have access to a welder i saw on youtube
http://forgetool.blogspot.com/2014/12/neat-russian-bushcraft-stump-anvil.html
The point here is be creative.. get something hard, and stable and get metal hot and hit it and
make beautiful things!
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