Good News Everyone! Ironbark and bronzewood work as intended, a steel clad dwarf is still a bearded engine of destruction but elves may have now be able to hold their own.
I ran several tests in the arena and a bronzewood clad elf is a match for around 2 -3 goblins in full iron. The elf was stuck down but dismembered one, exsanguinated the second, and severely maimed the third goblin before bleeding out due to a missing foot and arm. I'm running the final squad vs. squad test and a few horde tests that should confirm the materials effectiveness. The syndrome wood is still being worked on but I'll finish later tonight and then tomorrow I'll move onto the embark and reaction tests.
Currently no refinement is needed for the "metal" woods and I'm still trying to balance the harden wood reaction that produces copper level material... The problem is allowing for it to be useful and relatively abundant but not making it so that you can churn out a enough to pave the entire embark. Since no fuel will be required due to "fluff" reasons I could make a special shrub that is used like coke in the iron -> steel reaction. I'm also considering it to take from 2-3 logs if this reaction isn't used. Any thoughts?
Music to my eyes!
As for my thoughts on the matter:
Consider that, given neither are renewable resources, iron and coal deposits are usually found in moderate to great amounts on any favorable embark site (which is a forest to an elf player), and that finding a new vein is relatively easy, uncomplicated, and far less time-consuming than waiting years for trees to regrow, at which point the glade may be undergoing a constant barrage of ambushes and sieges. Thus, the amount of these trees on a typical forested embark or the material produced from these by a reaction should be enough to outfit a standard DF army (20-30 units.)
By that mark, I am all for the requisite of other materials. Since the elves are hardening wood, some sort of fluid would make the most sense (can anyone think of anything in particular?). I do like the idea of a special bush or shrub that produces some sort of oil for the process. Perhaps these bushes could yield nuts, which could then be pressed into oil at a Farmer's Workshop? If that is too difficult or not worthwhile, the basic idea works just as well.
EDIT: Can we call them Hardnuts?