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[nick56x]

Okay, being my derpy self my rather incompetent Dorfs have failed to make steel bars to skyrocket the metal industry. From my understanding, I need flux stone, fuel and iron before I can smelt iron bars... Correct?

However, I have all of the required materials. But the option in the smelter menu is marked in red, and when I hit 'enter' and go further into options, this is what I am prompted with:



What am I doing wrong are my Dorfs doing wrong? Is it because I have coke instead of refined coal? To me, this wouldn't make sense... Because, at least in theory, fuel is fuel.

[Edward_Tohr]

Have you smelted any pig iron yet?

Do you have any workshops set to give to the smelter?

[Somebodyelse]

Is any of that stored in a bin?

I've noticed that some jobs often don't get done because the items for the job are in a bin or other container that another dwarf is currently lugging around. Usually I see this happening with the papermaking industry.

[PatrikLundell]

Both kinds of coal work as fuel as long as they're processed into fuel. If you're using a normal smelter you need coal both for fuel and as a reduction agent, so you'd need two units. Also, as Edward_Tohr said, to set up a repeat construction order you first have to make one bar of pig iron, and when that's produced you can set up a repeat order of steel plus one for pig iron.

Incorrect workshop linkage is the bane of many a production line.

Bins or items in feeder stockpiles for minecart QS will also make the items unavailable when "processed". Forbidden items cannot be used either, of course.

[Skorpion]

First of all, magma smelters. You'll need at least three. This will save lots of fuel.

Secondly, steel is complex. Iron ore -> Iron. Use two smelters with that on repeat; three if you're reduced to goblinite.
There are four iron ores:
Magnetite, found in big clusters in sedimentary layers.
Limonite, found in veins in sedimentary layers.
Hematite, found in veins in igneous layers.
Goblinite, found on goblin or human troops in the form of armour and weapons. Obtained from the ore by designating the items to be melted, and selecting 'melt a metal object' at a smelter.

From there, you need to create pig iron. This takes an iron bar, a unit of flux, and a bar of refined coal.
Flux stone is marble, limestone, chalk, calcite, and dolomite. Only the first two are common. Marble is probably found all over when you get down to cavern depths. Raw stones, not blocks. Possibly use a minecart quantum stockpile for this.
Then you need to create the steel. This takes a bar of pig iron, a bar of iron, a unit of flux, and a bar of refined coal.
Queue up a handful of pig iron jobs to get a buffer, 5 should do it. Then set a smelter up with a job of pig iron and a job of steel, both set to repeat.
Refined coal is either smelted from lignite or bituminous coal as ore in a smelter, or burned to charcoal from logs of wood in a wood furnace.

If you use a regular smelter, you'll need a unit of refined coal to fuel every single job in the chain, as well. This includes obtaining the iron from the ore, the pig iron, and the steel itself, ON TOP OF the requirements to make the steel.

Your problem is likely just not having them available to dwarves RIGHT THIS SECOND due to stockpiling. Make sure you've got a few bars of pig iron as a buffer, and a shedload of iron bars to use.

[tranquilium]

Okay, being my derpy self my rather incompetent Dorfs have failed to make steel bars to skyrocket the metal industry. From my understanding, I need flux stone, fuel and iron before I can smelt iron bars... Correct?

However, I have all of the required materials. But the option in the smelter menu is marked in red, and when I hit 'enter' and go further into options, this is what I am prompted with:



What am I doing wrong are my Dorfs doing wrong? Is it because I have coke instead of refined coal? To me, this wouldn't make sense... Because, at least in theory, fuel is fuel.

It look like you only have 1 piece of charcoal/coke left. The process requires two charcoal/coke (unless it is at a magma smelter). One will be used as fuel and the other provides carbon.

If you do have enough charcoal/choke, try go to stock page and forbid then un-forbid all the bars.

[Staalo]

There are four iron ores:
Magnetite, found in big clusters in sedimentary layers.
Limonite, found in veins in sedimentary layers.
Hematite, found in veins in igneous layers.
Goblinite, found on goblin or human troops in the form of armour and weapons. Obtained from the ore by designating the items to be melted, and selecting 'melt a metal object' at a smelter.

Also remember Guestinite if you're in a pinch. Your tavern guests curiously won't mind at all if you designate their weapons to be melted down.

[martinuzz]

I'm still hoping that the elves at one point bring me an instrument which has it's MAIN component made out of divine metal. See if I can smelt that.
(Probably not, because it's assembled at the craftsdwarf shop)

Is any of that stored in a bin?

I've noticed that some jobs often don't get done because the items for the job are in a bin or other container that another dwarf is currently lugging around. Usually I see this happening with the papermaking industry.

probably not this, because then it'd show red in the screenshot.

More likely, what tranquilium said

[Skorpion]

There are four iron ores:
Magnetite, found in big clusters in sedimentary layers.
Limonite, found in veins in sedimentary layers.
Hematite, found in veins in igneous layers.
Goblinite, found on goblin or human troops in the form of armour and weapons. Obtained from the ore by designating the items to be melted, and selecting 'melt a metal object' at a smelter.

Also remember Guestinite if you're in a pinch. Your tavern guests curiously won't mind at all if you designate their weapons to be melted down.

That works? Dang. I'll try and do it to the useless bastards, then. Not like they ever go out and kill stuff.