Who on earth is blacksmithing as a hobby? Is that even possible except if your occupation is actually being blacksmith? Like, would you set up blacksmithing equipment in your garage?
I read a book on blacksmithing, built a small forge in the backyard, and put my tools in the garage. It's fun, fascinating, and surprisingly approachable.
To start blacksmithing you need a space to pile up some charcoal, hairdryer and a tube, a hammer and tongs + something that can be used as an anvil(i have used a piece of old railway on a log
I have friends that 3d print and woodwork, plus one who was setting up a forge to smith when life threw some bad stuff at him (fire, car accidents, etc). It doesn't seem strange to me. Lots of people like hobbies and smiting/knifemaking seems relatively popular, if a bit expensive.
On the other hand that woodworking friend had a whole lathe so a small forge doesn't strike me as odd. A bit of googling suggests you can get some backyard forges between $70-300, and can just DIY and make your own. By contrast my camera (OM-D Em1 Mk III) cost me somewhere between $1.5-2k, with just one of my lenses also costing $1.5k.