was continuing the fruitless search for a reasonably-priced
steel fork with a super-long steering tube and came across
this frame builder advertising on taobao.

looks like he has steel lugged frames starting at around $250,
depending on (taiwan production) tubing selection.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=523046893901

also has some sort of DIY design your own steel frame starting under $200.
(you can see some customers posted photos of completed bikes, scroll down a bit
until the search bar with orange magnifying glass appears....couple inches to
right, click the orange number to see comments.) 2-week production time?

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm...id=40423792181

chatted with him late last night, says he can make me a fork to
my specs (i asked about 400mm steerer) for about $50.

also asked about a big-boy 25" mtb frame, he sent me a photo of a
surly troll and said to send him desired dimensions.
..........this could be fun. (current bike ~ troll XL size)

ok, so i'm thinking jet black XXL troll with stainless steel lugs?
maybe a few skulls and crossbones under the clearcoat,
and a "zombie-killer slayer" logo as a badge. sweet.