Hunting online is going to put you in touch with people looking to make as much as possible.

Be patient and use the TPAAAT method it works. Deals are out there but not common, it's worse in Alaska but I've stumbled across a couple. is a high priced market for most anything and since forged in fire smithing tools are at a premium. Was hoping someone could answer this for me as I am not finding a clear answer searching. So the vise would be mainly for when I need something clamped, more like heating up steel bar to bend(for example current project requires making some 90 degree bends in 1/4' x 3' steel bar). Note, I do have a xxxxxx Harbor Freight anvil as well as piece of train track that I am slowly turning into an anvil shaped object. So thought I would ask here which material would be good for some light duty blacksmithing. Some have 5 year warranties while some have lifetime casting warranties. Yost also has one that is Austempered ductile iron.

So I was trying to narrow it down between some that are 'structural cast steel' or or ductile iron. I know cast iron is not great, a lot of reviews show them cracking etc.

I see a few that look decent for a decent price. Looking at some machinists/mechanics/general vises at Home Depot that can fill my need for a general purpose vise that can handle mechanic work, home repair, steel pipe, and some basic blacksmithing and metal work. I am a home mechanic/woodworker/ jack of all trades kind of guy starting to do some basic blacksmithing as a hobby.

Ductile iron anvil