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[Agent_Irons]

So I embarked on a volcano with an aquifer and freezing weather part of the year. How does temperature for freezing objects work? Can I reheat a frozen area without using magma?(it's right there, so it's possible to use).

I've seen designs that basically pump magma over a bridge on the layer below to heat the weapon layer, melting the ice. When needed, shut off the pump, the ice flash-freezes, and then you mine out the delicious veins of goblin at your leisure.

One quirk of temperature I've noticed in previous forts: 7/7 magma doesn't melt ice on the layer above. 6/7 does, though. So when your sub-lake is aaaaaalmost full you get partial melting and refreezing.

Safety is a concern, of course. I'd like to have the thing warm at all times, and simply dampen it when in danger and freeze it at the appropriate time(pressure plates, maybe?) Thoughts?

[chris_strain]

I haven't played with it since the new versions, but iirc, for magma to melt the ice above it, it has to be flowing. For reliability you need to either have it flowing under and off screen or, if you have plentiful iron, being circulated via pumps much like a water reactor. Leaving a few squares at 6/7 will thaw places as the flows shift around, but I wouldn't call it safe to send your dorfs out into. Also. it doesn't have to be pumped over a bridge, it can flow over a natural for just as easily as long as it's the next level down.

Not sure about the exact freeze/refreeze time.

[Agent_Irons]

I have glass for pump parts, so that should work okay. I think the 'reset' mode of it might have to be cold, so that I can just mine out the goblinite. Then reheat, reflood, and prepare to chill.

[Girlinhat]

I have glass for pump parts, so that should work okay. I think the 'reset' mode of it might have to be cold, so that I can just mine out the goblinite. Then reheat, reflood, and prepare to chill.

Dealing with freezing traps in a permanently frozen biome is quite the tricky situation and can involve extremely advanced fluid control.  While it is amazing, consider easier alternatives.  A simple drawbridge is all you need to drop invaders into water and drown them.

[Agent_Irons]

I have glass for pump parts, so that should work okay. I think the 'reset' mode of it might have to be cold, so that I can just mine out the goblinite. Then reheat, reflood, and prepare to chill.

Dealing with freezing traps in a permanently frozen biome is quite the tricky situation and can involve extremely advanced fluid control.  While it is amazing, consider easier alternatives.  A simple drawbridge is all you need to drop invaders into water and drown them.

The problem is that it does melt for a month or two in spring(in parts of the map, not sure how much yet), which makes the whole thing fantastically dangerous. Any moisture left on the path is instant death at some point in the fall. While I experiment with this I'm using the even easier aquifer-based drowning chamber. Drain with floodgate, fortifications to keep nasty troll arms away from sensitive pump equipment, raising drawbridges, no holes in the ceiling, pump straight from aquifer and then drain straight to aquifer. It'll kill anything with lungs, and the system also works for magma with minimal modifications(drainage, mostly). Maybe just cast the whole thing in obsidian and mine very carefully? who knows. That's project 2.

[SeelenJägerTee]

I've never worked with freezing traps - I swear on encasement in obsidian - but If i wanted a freezing trap what I'd probably try is the following.

Designate a burrow that covers ALL save areas of the map. Set this as a civilian alert so you can be sure your dwarfs never go outside of this as long as the alert is on.
On level below surface dig 2 wide tunnel with the ramp command then remove the ramps. You now have a 2 wide channel exposed to the sky any water in it will freeze over.
At each side of this tunnel dig a 2 wide room. Build a 1 wide raising bridge on the tiles closest to the open channel. Raise the bridge. Flood the now 1 wide room with water.
When you open the bridges in winter the water will flow in the channel and should instant freeze.
Remove the channel from the burrow defined earlier.

You can control whether dwarfs enter the channel by toggling the alert. That means you can prevent access when there is still remaining moisture that could freeze into an ice block.

Don't forget to build a raising bridge in front of the entrance to the channel so you can seal it off to allow for save access.