Forging Bronze?

[Machaeus]

How do you actually make bronze?

I apologize if this has been answered, but the wiki's pages don't seem to be any help, and I can't smelt the Copper and Tin ores just in the same crucible, so I'm a bit confused as to what I'm supposed to do to make the alloy.

[Satras]

You have to get the ratio right. Check the in-game help for the recipe. If you get the ratio right, the crucible will tell you ("will create xxx units of tin bronze").

[Machaeus]

It says the same % value on the wiki, but...am I supposed to combine ingots, somehow?

[Streetwind]

You can, but that always results in huge amounts because you need huge amounts of copper to combine with one ingot of tin. Also, come 1.15 you will no longer be able to stuff whole ingots into the smelthing crucible either way.

Instead, just combine the ore nuggets. 20 nuggets make one ingot, so your goal is to figure out a combination of nuggets that adds up to 20 (or a multiple of 20) which fulfills the mixture ratio. I mean... you strictly speaking do not even have to hit multiples of 20. It'll work whenever the mixture ratio is right. But producing something that's not a full ingot's worth doesn't let you cast anything useful with it, so why bother?

For example: 18 copper nuggets and 2 cassiterite nuggets fulfills the mixture ratio requirement for tin bronze and adds up to 20, so you get a full ingot's worth of tin bronze from smelting this. 92 copper nuggets and 8 cassiterite nuggets works as well, that will give you 5 ingots' worth. 88 copper and 12 cassiterite will as well - or anything in between.

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by Streetwind

[Machaeus]

Ohhh, I see...you have to make batches of 10 ingots then.  Thank you!

[Silent Shadow]

Nah, you can make a single bronze ingot with 2 nuggets of tin and 18 copper. It is not the most efficient use of tin (10% tin vs the 8% tin minimum limit for bronze), but you can do it. If you are going for your anvil you may as well make a 1000 units worth (anvil + 2 ingots) as multiples of 500 units (92 copper nuggets and 8 tin nuggets) maximize the amount of bronze you can make with your tin.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Silent Shadow

[Silent Shadow]

Also, I am compelled to tell you that your question is about smelting, not forging (the hammering of hot metal into different shapes). Please forgive my neuroticism.

[Machaeus]

Really?  Because when I tried the 2-to-18 ratio, I couldn't get them to smelt together...

EDIT: Trying the 8-92 ratio also failed, and Idk why...

Edited July 6, 2021 by Sam Billington

[Streetwind]

Can you show a screenshot?

Also, can you specify what exactly (ingame name) you are putting into the crucible?

[Machaeus]

Sure, screenshot and names incoming:

90x Native Copper Nuggets + 10x Sphalerite Nuggets

Please note that while the fireplace is cold, when I do heat it up, it does bupkiss.

[Machaeus]

...a realization has occurred.  Wtf, how did I miss that...?

Where can I find tin, then?

[Silent Shadow]

Tin is found in volcanic layers like andesite, basalt, and granite, usually somewhat deep underground. Honestly, it is easiest to just make a prospecting pick out of copper with a mold and use that to find a region that has it. Once you do that, you can find the ore dics by digging down and using the propick to find it.

[Silent Shadow]

I also see you are fueling the fire with firewood there. I am not sure if you are just using it to warm up the fire and then add charcoal for the actual smelting or not, but just in case, so your time is not wasted, know that you will need charcoal for the smelting of metal or it will not work. Firewood just doesn't burn hot enough.

[Machaeus]

I'm aware, thank you

[Streetwind]

Alternatively, if you can find bismuth, you can use that with the sphalerite and copper you already have to make bismuth bronze. That works too.

[Onsdag]

You can also find copper and tin nuggets (among many other treasures) by panning.

[ahueonao]

You *can* use just copper and zinc (sphalerite) to make brass, though at a different proportion (60-70% copper, 40-30% zinc). However, brass can only be used to make lanterns and torch holders at the moment, not tools. Remember that you'll need 20 nuggets in total to make an ingot's worth of metal, and *those* nuggets need to be in the proportion given in the game guide in order to produce the right alloy (the firepit's interface will show the "will smelt into X units of [alloy type]" once you get the right proportion).

The main problem with the guide's recipes for the various bronze and non-bronze alloys is that it's not super clear in distinguishing the materials (i.e. the nuggets from the metal they smelt into), or in clarifying that the percentages shown are (usually) referring to the proportion of nuggets in the crucible rather than ingots (I mean, you can certainly smelt ingots if you want, but it makes the process needlessly convoluted if you're not aware you can just use nuggets if you just need a couple of ingots' worth of final product).