Smithing

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**Smithing** refers broadly to smelting ore in a kiln or forge, in order to craft metal tools. The smelting of metals provide the door for the acquisition of the most technological items in the game, such as Newcomen machines and even radios. Crafting steel tools is a major accomplishment for a civilization, and will greatly increase your likelihood of survival, pushing your tribe to the next level of existence.

Objects that can be made include tools, rails, lock and keys, crowns, dice and bells. Obtaining even bronze tools will also allow you to cook more meat items, dig up wells for farm use, and also make useful items such as hand carts.

## Blacksmiths

Becoming a **blacksmith** is a long and difficult process, but very rewarding. Before starting the smithing process ensure you have a steady supply of food. Smithing is best done in pairs so that someone can keep fires lit and charcoal cooking, but it's doable solo if you've got an organized space and a lot of trees and patience. A good way to practice smithing is in big cities with plenty of resources.

One golden rule of any town is to *NOT DISTURB THE BUSY BLACKSMITH*. Certain in-game objects, such as engines, are absolutely vital to a town's survival, and very few players know how to make them. Entire towns have died out because the village blacksmith was too annoyed to finish an engine and no one else knew how to do so.

## The Smithy

#### Smithy's Necessities

There are a few items that are absolutely necessery for any smithy. The first is the forge (adobe in early towns, stone furnace in advanced ones) with bellows, flat rocks and a smithing hammer. If the town has progressed to the iron age, there should be an anvil and a Multipurpose Newcomen Engine close to the forge. Newcomen Engine should always be placed on the right side of the forge, two tiles away so there's one free tile between them.

Each advanced town should also have a Blast Furnace, a Bessemer Converter, and a Ladle Cart nearby for mass production of steel, necessery for technological progress.

Tongs
BellowsFlat RockFirebrand
KindlingBasket of Charcoaland

Adobe Kiln
Forge
AdobeBronze Smithing Hammer
or

Stone KilnStone FurnaceSmithing HammerAnvil BlockMultipurpose Newcomen EngineBlast FurnaceBessemer ConverterLadle CartEmpty Bucket

### Kiln

> *For more information see Adobe Kiln, Forge and Stone Furnace*
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You can use either Adobe Kiln or Stone Kiln for smithing. The adobe kiln is used only in the early eras, while the stone kiln signalizes that the town has entered iron age. Stone Kiln can do all that the adobe kiln can and more.

To use the kiln, fill it with a kindling and fire it with a firebrand. Usually, you will need tongs to smith items in it. The usability of the kiln is limited mostly to clay products.

If you cover the firing kiln with an adobe (or close the door of the stone kiln), the kindling in it will turn into charcoal. It can be removed with an empty basket and used in the forge or stored in piles or in a wooden box.

### Forging

To use the forge, you need to use a basket of charcoal instead of kindling as fuel. Either make charcoal using the kiln, then add the bellows later, or if you have a second kiln with charcoal, you can transfer the charcoal to the forge directly with the basket. For this reason, it is advisable to have a kiln and a forge near (but not next to) each other so you can make charcoal with the kiln while smithing with the forge.

The forge can be lit using a firebrand. Pick up the object to be forged using wooden tongs and use it on the firing forge. Then set the object either on the ground (for crucibles), on a Flat Rock, or on an anvil, with Smithing Hammer or a round stone at the ready.

## Ores

Some of the ores you will need for smithing, you can find in the badlands. Others you will need to mine from an ore vein, also found in the badlands. Some special metals, like gold or silver, can be obtained from a Tundra Mine.

Iron can be only mined, since update v20290 it's impossible to find iron ore in the wildness.

Can be found in the badlands:

CassiteriteNative Copper OreMalachiteLimestone

Can be found only in ore veins:

Iron OreCoalCalamineGoldSilverElectrum Ore

Smithed ingots:

Tin IngotCopper IngotBronze Ingot
Zinc IngotWrought Iron
Steel Ingot
## Metal Tools

While steel tools are more durable and cheaper in labor, they requre bronze tools to be made first. Before you have unlimited supply of iron, consider sticking to bronze tools as much as possible.

To create a tool, first pick up the ingot with tongs and heat it in the forge. Put it on the flat rock if bronze, anvil if steel, and hit it with the smithing hammer. Hitting a hot tool head again will change it to another tool head, enablig you to cycle through all tool heads. Their order is fixed, so you can check how many times you will need to hit the hot ingot to get the tool head you want. Try to avoid repeating cycles if possible, as each hit has a small chance of breaking the smithing hammer. When you finally reached the tool head you want, let it cool before taking it off the flat rock/anvil. With the exception of the chisel, you will need to add a long or short shaft, or do something else to make those tools usable.

For more information how to craft and use bronze and steel, see the main articles below.

### Bronze

> *See main article: Bronze*
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Bronze Smithing HammerBronze AxeBronze HoeBronze ChiselBronze AdzeBronze FroeBronze FileBronze Hand SawBronze KnifeBronze ShearsShovelBronze Mining Pick
### Steel

> *See main article: Steel*
>
>

Smithing HammerSteel AxeSteel HoePitchforkSteel ChiselSteel AdzeSteel FroeSteel FileKnifeShearsBow SawShovelSteel Mining Pick
## Strategy

Smithing requires speed. Enabling "KEYBOARD ACTIONS" in settings and using your keyboard will aid you in being faster, unless you are very proficient with a mouse. For this reason, plan your layout in checkered pattern which is much more keyboard-friendly and eliminates the need to waste time walking.

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Another strategy which requires a bag is to have your ore, flat rock, tongs, forge and a free space in a cross or plus (+) shape, and a round stone in your bag. You use the tongs to pick up an iron ore, heat it in the forge, place it on the flat rock, put down the tongs so you can take out the round stone, hit the hot iron bloom to turn it into wrought iron, put the stone in your bag, then move the wrought iron by hand to the free space and repeat.

While you will use most of your wrought iron to make steel ingots, you can also use a smithing hammer on hot wrought iron on flat rock to make some items needed for a multipurpose newcomen engine, a fuel tank, or a sewing machine.

1. Crude Piston
2. Partial Sewing Machine
3. Crude Cylinder
4. Fuel Tank
5. Boiler

### Steel Crucible

You can get copper and zinc ingots the same way as steel ingots, without having to make a wrought piece of metal. To get copper, add Malachite and charcoal to a bowl and seal with a plate. To get zinc, add calamine and charcoal and seal with a plate. Limestone does not require charcoal or a plate.

### Notes

* The most important factor while firing multiple items is the arrangement of them before lighting the kiln, as you lose time retrieving them.
* It's not possible to smith more than six items in adobe kiln/forge as it is use-based as well as time-based. For this reason, upgrading to stone furnace as soon as possible is greatly recommended.
* Each time you light a stone kiln you should be able to fire at least 8 items, with 12 being a very good amount. Firing past 12 items is difficult, but still possible.
* You could also keep yourself from firing 1-2 items to cover the kiln with adobe to produce charcoal for smithing. For stone kiln, close its door with a firebrand.
* These numbers also apply to smelt items that don't require extra steps.
* While making Wrought Iron, you can put 2-3 blooms in the flat rocks and hit them all in a single run, but this is a advance practice and you risk to let the blooms get cold and thus lose more time than you earn using this technique. Also you will want to hit them in the order they were placed, as the first placed will be the first to get cold.
* Using this technique you can turn 4-5 iron ores to Wrought Iron. Trying 6 pieces lies into the danger zone.
* You can only use hammers to turn blooms into Wrought Iron, but they lose durability while doing so with bronze hammer losing it twice as fast as the steel one.