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The podcast episode XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX has a good overview of what everyone should know about the steel used in blades. You can listen to it on the site or download it as an mp3. Off site promotion no new content

Many people seem happy with a forge made from two, hollowed out firebricks as a small, portable solution. However, the soft firebricks do seem to take a beating, crack and fall apart fairly easily. Some people will wire them together, but has anyone had any luck with putting them in a casing of some kind? It would seem as if this would extend the life of the forge and also make it less fragile when toting it around if they were in some sort of shell.

Ok, now there is one more thing added to the "I'd like to make" list. Awesome.

Thanks for the replies. That gives me a few options to look into next week, with the hopes of keeping things within budget. :)

Does anyone have experience with a scrapyard anywhere within driving distance to Phoenix that will let someone come by and pick up a flat sided chunk of steel for an anvil? I haven't had any luck finding one that will do business with regular folks. The one's I've talked with were all interested in selling in bulk to businesses, but not single pieces to individuals.