Metal Alloys and Cooling Metal

[DarkDurza 3]

You should make it so that all the metals in a metallurgy table have to be liquid. Right now they have to be completely cool, which makes absolutely no sense; how do you mix together solid metals? Also throwing an ingot into water should instantly cool it.

[valkupo 17]

I kinda like the idea of making the metals in the metalurgy table be liquid, but isn't putting super hot metals into water (or just rapidly cooling) dangerous/bad for the metal in some cases? Maybe I'm thinking of some other material...

[RogueHydra 32]

If I remember correctly, blacksmiths working on swords would dip it into water to cool it. I'm not sure however when in the process this was done (as the final step? or every few folds of metal hammered in?) It's too late for me to be looking things up (half asleep) but if someone else has the initiative, go for it. I'm curious.

[SierraKhaar 20]

By quickly putting (some metals) into water the metal hardens, so that would be the last step.

Or when welding, so the metal hardens together, then heat again, slam it more together and into the water again.

They used a big container for the water.

That's the rough idea about it.

Would be awesome if that WAS the last step in TFC.

You smite it and when throwing it into water it gets a random quality.

What a moment when you throw it in, and hoping you get a "perfect" quality.

would be awesome =)

Maybe this idea should go to suggestions ^^

[Beckoner 8]

Quenching (immersing in water) has the effect of making the metal hard (able to hold an edge) and brittle (shatterable).

Tempering (reheating to one of a set of specific, lower temperatures) can reduce the brittleness without lower the hardness too much.

If you just quenched the metal after heating, you would get a durable tool, but one that would shatter if swung/struck too hard (e.g. sword being used to hit rock)

[valkupo 17]

Ah yes, that's right... the fast cooling is the last step. Maybe I was thinking of glass? Oh well.

With SierraKharr's and Beckoner's helpful info, I am now fully behind this idea. =P

[CreepyCreeps100 5]

the mechanic for melting metals and combining them into alloys is already implemented...

to make an alloy you need to have all metal at the liquid stage and then combine it in the metallurgy table as you said in this thread.

Although there was a quench option until it got removed in beta 1.

[Zedek 1]

the mechanic for melting metals and combining them into alloys is already implemented...

to make an alloy you need to have all metal at the liquid stage and then combine it in the metallurgy table as you said in this thread.

Although there was a quench option until it got removed in beta 1.

Neither here nor there. We're discussing quenching. Also he's not suggesting that the combining melted ingots idea as something new but he thinks that the ingots should be in a liquid state.

[Jivix 21]

I don't understand. Ingots already need to be in their unshaped, liquid state to be combined in the metallurgy table.

I like the quenching ideas, and I'm pretty sure they're already planned (look at the so far unusable "quench" button on the anvil).

[Crysyn 179]

I don't understand. Ingots already need to be in their unshaped, liquid state to be combined in the metallurgy table.

I like the quenching ideas, and I'm pretty sure they're already planned (look at the so far unusable "quench" button on the anvil).

Yeah I am not following this either, you do have to combine the metals in liquid form to make alloys, not the worked ingots.. Maybe this is a bug?

[valkupo 17]

Yeah I am not following this either, you do have to combine the metals in liquid form to make alloys, not the worked ingots.. Maybe this is a bug?

On the Change Log for Beta 2 Pre-release 26 (unreleased at the time of this post):

The metallurgy table should correctly require all of the metals to be in liquid state when making an alloy.

Crysyn was right, it was a bug.