I've also noticed that when you lock down the small soulforge, it loses the lockdown the following day. But the same works for the hanging skeleton reward, so I don't think it's really a bug. It doesn't need to be locked down for security, but you can in case you want to move it with a deco tool.
But the damn thing should be able to alter items.
As far as a limited market, maybe. No worse than other artifacts that drop strictly from strong bosses.