I recently purchased borax at a chemical supply house in Portland,OR. I felt the price was high, but having dealt with them before, I paid their price.
When I got home, I did some web research and found the following supplier. I bought their minimum 5 lbs to give it a go. There is no difference between the high and low priced borax.
http://www.cqconcepts.com/chem_sodiumborate.php
John

Our local grocery stores carry 20 Mule Team in a 5 lb box. It's also called washing borax on the box cover.

The difference is that what you get in the grocery store is not anhydrous and foams up. To me, the anhydrous seems to work better for damascus.
John

You can make anhydrous by baking regular borax in the oven until the moisture is driven off. It usually cakes but isn't too difficult to crush into powder.

Yeah, I know, but it just seems like a pita. Even though I'm in the shop full time, it's just not how I want to spend my time, or what my time is worth.

Take a look at the local Clay Art Suppliers thats where I get mine from and the price is ok. Therre is also.. http://www.lmine.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LMS&Product_Code=17100-55&Category_Code=flux_components

its a large amount but its about a buck a pound.

Thanks John..... I ordered 5 lbs just for GP.... I still have a good bit of the last 2 pounds I bought 5 years ago... but for $20 including shipping better to just have it on hand

I hate to be the one to break this to ye, John, but the "decahydrate" in "sodium borate decahydrate" means it is not anhydrous. So too the "10 H2O" listed in the MSDS supplied by your vendor's link. http://www.cqconcepts.com/inc/inc_print_sodiumborate.html

Well, maybe it's "less-hydrous"! Actually, the MSDS is a little ambiguous:

• Product Identification
  
  Synonyms: Sodium borate decaHydrate; borax; Sodium pyroborate
  CAS No.: 1330-43-4 (Anhydrous) 1303-96-4 (decaHydrate)
  Molecular Weight: 381.37
  Chemical Formula: Na2b4o7 . 10H2o
• Composition/Information on Ingredients

  Component

  CAS No.

  Percent

  Hazardous

  -----------------------------

  ---------

  ------------

  ------------

  Borates, Tetra, Sodium Salts (Anhydrous)

  1330-43-4

  99-100%

  Yes

  
  

Note the references to "Anhydrous". From a safety data perspective, it's all the same.

Unless you have the water free borax in a tight container it will gain water from the air.

John,
You can set the grocery store stuff in front of the exhaust blast from the forge in a metal cup after a morning of forging...cap it when you come to relight in the afternoon.
It will need to be crushed into powder to be used...easy under the press.

yes, it is a bit more work....but I have seen many buy the anhydrous and leave it in an open container in humid weather.

Ric

humid weather? we don't have that on the oregon coast. we have wet and wetter.
grocery store borax is too much work to make useful for me. for the cost, the cq concept borax works well.

john

Speaking of good deals, I just checked Amazon.com. Right now, if you search for "Borax," the first return is a 5lb box for about $10. Because I forgot to cancel my Amazon Prime trial last Christmas, and paid my annual fee, I just bought a box, with free shipping.

I can probably buy it for less if I shop around, but none of my local stores carry it.

Right now, if you search for "Borax," the first return is a 5lb box for about $10.

K-mart has 4# for $4. In the laundry isle.