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Well, they're easy to make and once you have the metal it's not expensive to make. 1 ingot for a knife that cuts faster and lasts longer so you don't have to repeatedly remake it. If you don't mind having to remake your knife over and over though, then there's no real reason to.

So I've traveled around about a 6000 block radius on my current continent, I've checked down in coastal caves and I've prospected in sandstone, limestone, claystone, and shale. Not a drop of Borax. Is it possible that for some reason it's just not on my entire continent and I need to sail to a new one?

Best way to go is to get it to aggro to you BEFORE you pick up your stuff so you can lead it away. Then, if you die again or escape, you can go get your stuff freely.

I die by starving all the time because I realized it's just easier to respawn on my bed than it is to drain my group's food stocks with my increased hunger rate.

This is accurate.. but I thought this was a good thing. I felt rewarded by improving on my accuracy and speed with an anvil over time. For my friend group I was the master smith that armed and armored all of us, but now it takes me much longer to deliver.

I play plenty of other games, but other survival games like Minecraft or Valheim just fail by comparison to Vintage now. I'd rather spend two hours hammering plates for my groups full plates instead of going to the Nether now.

Respectfully, you might be an insane crazy person. Amazing work! I can only imagine the diligence it took to do all that chiselwork.