TomD
Mine has a lot of marks on it, but it really doesn't mater since anything I work on it is either going to look rough, or be ground. I wish it were a better surface, but it isn't. I do wonder what people did with these things. So many of them are thrashed so badly, which is about as sensible as a plane used to drive nails.

Of course most people don't want a forge, but for those who might, they are about as difficult to house as a hibachi sized BBQ or at the small end, a propane torch. I love mine, but I can only use it a few hours a day during the warm part of the year. I don't use it indoors.