Becoming a blacksmith - but how do I get charcoal?

hdggDalton · 2017-08-05T19:42:37.000Z

After I found an acetylene torch and a broken RV to harvest metal from, I got excited because I could finally make metal stuff which is better than stone, copper, or wooden stuff. The problem is, it took up almost all of the torch’s charges to build the smithing equipment in the first place (anvil, crucible, swage and die set, pair of metal tongs, metalworking chisel) so now I can’t forge anything except a steak knife or throwing axes because those things only need 30 charges.

Now, I finally made a charcoal forge. But where do I get charcoal? I tried burning logs but all I got was ashes and a small forest fire.

Mantar · 2017-08-05T19:50:18.000Z

You need to put the wood in a charcoal kiln. It has to be burned at a slow, controlled rate or you just get ash.
One of many terrible jobs you could have in the middle ages was a charcoal maker’s apprentice. You had to sit and watch that thing all day long. They gave you a one-legged stool to sit on so if you fell asleep you’d fall over and wake yourself up, so you wouldn’t miss seeing if the fire got too hot or started to go out.

Walegrin · 2017-08-05T20:25:02.000Z

Charcoal can sometimes be found in houses and other places as well. But yeah, your best bet is to make a charcoal kiln and go from there.

DeWolf · 2017-08-05T20:47:07.000Z

You can find it in houses, various stores and you can make it through various kilns. More specifically the non portable rock build charcoal kiln does not seem to have an upper limit to how much wood you can stuff in it which means you can make a ridiculously large amount of charcoal at once.

Walegrin · 2017-08-05T21:13:33.000Z

DeWolf:

More specifically the non portable rock build charcoal kiln does not seem to have an upper limit to how much wood you can stuff in it which means you can make a ridiculously large amount of charcoal at once.

And you can use bones if you want too.

hdggDalton · 2017-08-05T21:42:51.000Z

I found coal from mining underground, but it quickly increases hunger, thirst, and fatigue. It also gives some pain. I have ludicrous amounts of flour and a water pump, so I could keep mining for coal, but I think I’ll stick to a charcoal kiln.

Rot · 2017-08-06T05:30:24.000Z

Just throw logs into a charcoal kiln before you go to bed and (e) activate the kiln, don’t set it on fire or you’ll burn your house down. Then if you did everything properly you’d wake up to thousands of pieces of charcoal.

DeWolf · 2017-08-06T06:06:40.000Z

Rot:

Just throw logs into a charcoal kiln before you go to bed and (e) activate the kiln, don’t set it on fire or you’ll burn your house down. Then if you did everything properly you’d wake up to thousands of pieces of charcoal.

Unfortunately depending on what you’re making 1000 charcoal disappears surprisingly quickly.

tarburst98 · 2017-08-06T12:13:10.000Z

this is one of the BIG pros to getting a vehicle forge rig, even if it’s not on a car, just some frames, the rig, a storage battery and a bunch of solar panels and you can make stuff basically forever.

DeWolf · 2017-08-06T19:25:11.000Z

tarburst98:

this is one of the BIG pros to getting a vehicle forge rig, even if it’s not on a car, just some frames, the rig, a storage battery and a bunch of solar panels and you can make stuff basically forever.

It might take a while but yes.

hdggDalton · 2017-08-06T21:04:25.000Z

I thought you all meant the charcoal kiln item, not the construction. The item is crappy, it gives only 40 charcoal no matter what you put in it. The construction is really good! I put in 12 logs and awoke to 2400 charcoal. I live next to a forest, so I think I have virtually unlimited charcoal.

DeWolf · 2017-08-06T21:30:28.000Z

hdggDalton:

I thought you all meant the charcoal kiln item, not the construction. The item is crappy, it gives only 40 charcoal no matter what you put in it. The construction is really good! I put in 12 logs and awoke to 2400 charcoal. I live next to a forest, so I think I have virtually unlimited charcoal.

Sadly no. Trees do not grow back so unless you are getting regular visits from zombies or animals you will eventually run out of charcoal. This eventually however is probably a REALLY REALLLLY LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

Szara · 2017-08-06T21:43:27.000Z

If you run out of logs while living near a forest you’re spending entirely too much time piddling around not going anywhere. I hardly chop down more than a dozen trees across even my longest characters, for charcoal and general wood.

Mantar · 2017-11-13T21:48:56.713Z

Yeah, I’ve built my woodland character an 11x11 log cabin and only depleted about a half of one forest tile for construction, fire, and charcoal use over the past year of game time. One guy can’t deplete a forest very fast, you really need a town to do that.