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[PatrikLundell]

My moronic king periodically mandates the impossible task of producing picks (I have no metal, except some junk bars for mood emergencies). If I was to buy some weapon grade metal off the next caravan, would I satisfy the mandate by producing picks and then melt them down again? If so, would I have to wait until the mandate has expired (all three picks produced, for instance), and will export bans be 'violated' by melting?

[Arx]

I think you can buy bars and make picks, and I don't imagine you'd need to wait for all of them to be made before melting them down. I also think that the export ban applies specifically to leaving the map, so melting them should be fine.

[Larix]

Export bans only apply to, well, _export_ of items, i.e. selling or gifting stuff to merchants who then take it off the map.

I don't understand why you'd even consider the possibility of melting somehow qualifying as export. It doesn't. Neither does atomsmashing or losing an item to rot. Export really means export. Similarly, production mandates only care about the production of items. What happens with them _after_ they've been produced doesn't matter, you can melt or otherwise consume them without worries.

[PatrikLundell]

Thanks!

The reason I am wary of the "export" concept is that at times things are not what they explicitly would be in DF. Why an export ban in the first place, if not to ensure the stuff stays within the fortress (or you want to punish the trade partner, but then it would be targeted). Thus, destruction might be considered a subversion of an export ban.

The damned scepters the king wants are now stored in a stockpile in the king's bedroom together with the blasted crowns the mayor want. Then they can swim around in or play with the junk as much as they please, without interfering with hauling the byproduct junk I'm forced to produce to get them to the trade depot when the caravan arrives (typically they impose an export ban on the junk after it has been designated for hauling to the depot).

[AlexanderTheIncompetant]

 Kill him. Just kill him. Nobles, unless they have a useful skill, get to work and shut their trap, are the wost malevolent things dwarves can become, bar were creatures and other actively aggressive things. They will demand the most arbitrary and useless things imaginable (Here, it's a pickaxe, but three? Seriously?), put on a hissy fit if they aren't buried in a tomb that surpasses those of all other citizens, demand gold plated bedrooms and prevent you from exporting your only valuable items that can be spared for trade.

[PatrikLundell]

Well, the king is actually my head carpenter, so he made his own masterworks bed. The king's value demands happened to be met surprisingly easily, since I happened to get a highly skilled engraver migrant, and his engraving of the king's rooms were sufficient to meet the value demands.
I don't consider nobles to be malvolent, just incompetent and stupid. Also, I don't have any problems generating value for export, just the worn clothing tends to cover everything I want to import, and I need to get rid of excess food somewhere. As long as I can store the noble demanded junk at their premises so it's out of the way, I don't have too much problem with that, although crowns and scepters are a pain in that they cannot be produced, but only have a percentage chance of being produced.

[utunnels]

I always melt the pick and construct a new one.
 
Well, I got a legendary weapon smith though I seldom made weapons: the baroness liked picks.

[schlake]

As I understand it, the proper way to deal with a mandate is a pit with lava in the bottom, or an atom smasher.  Just make sure no other dwarves see what happened, or they might get upset.

[Deboche]

I think it's better to just completely ignore mandates, it might make the noble a bit unhappy but I like that, it never gets to tantrum levels if you have a decent fortress.

I think I have the luxury of ignoring them because I never have a justice system so if you have one of those, be careful.

[Naryar]

It's an useful mandate. Do it.

[PatrikLundell]

Well, I somehow accidentally got a justice system when I tried to start a militia after finally creating some obsidian for weaponry. Since I don't have a jail (still waiting for goblins to donate metal for chains), random dorfs are beaten for non mandate fulfilment (and that is probably better than having them out of production for 9 months). However, I've transported the copper bar down to the magma sea, so the next time I get a pick mandate I'll get someone to forge a pick, get it melted, reforge...

I don't really think a pick making mandate is useful. Each of my 2 miners already have their own picks, and I have no use for 543 picks even if I had the metal for it. In fact, the only reapeat mandates that would be somewhat useful in my view is creation of booze or food (bolts would be marginally useful, if I was actually using crossbows, but I stay away from them for the time being).

[Deboche]

Indeed. Crafts are also acceptable.

[AlexanderTheIncompetant]

 You got a justice system because creating a militia creates captain of the guard or whatever, and they head the fortress guard, the sort of police that breaks up fights (or is supposed to, the last time I had a fight, the bastards did fuck all and the psychotic child died of asphyxiation).
 You can also make restraints with ropes.
 

[Niddhoger]

Whenever the human/dorf caravan rolls around, buy out ALL the metal items.  If $ is an issue skip hte highly decorated/trap components as they are very pricey.  You can also directly request bars, ores, and crafts/weapons to smelt down.  However, importing items won't fufill a mandate.  You have to melt down and make on site.   However, by prioritizing metal items from trade and being frugal with the bars, you can stretch them a loooong ways.  When I know I am embarking on low-metal areas I tend to start from the very first caravan.  Keep in mind that most items are melted down in fractions (.3 of a bar, .7 of a bar, etc).  These fractions are actually collected in the smelter.  Whenever it ticks over 1, you get a full bar.  For this reason its best to limit the number of "recycling" furnaces so you don't wind up with several fractions of 10 different metals across all your furnaces.

If you are feeling exploity... several metal items melt down for an INCREASE in bars.  Picks, for example, require one bar to make but are melted down into 1.2 bars.  Thus, for every 5 picks you melt of hte same metal you get a free bar.  Some items like "menacing spikes" and "giant axe blades" melt down for 1.5 bars when they only take one.... its redonkulous.  So if you really wanna go dark side with metals, you can get a single unit of (imported) steel and go crazy making menacing spikes to melt down.  Using magma you give up no resources except dorf labor.  However this trains a skill (and attributes).

[Larix]

You got a justice system because creating a militia creates captain of the guard

No. You only get a captain of the guard if you explicitly nominate them or create a specific captain of the guard squad from the military screen. You can have a hundred-dwarf military with no justice system. You can also dissolve your guard squad if you don't need them or if because they do more harm than good.

Good items to melt down: musical instruments (0,9 bars per item vs. 0,3 for crafts and toys), cages and anvils (one bar each). Cages and anvils are notable because anvils and occupied cages offered by traders are _always_ base quality and thus relatively cheap.