In my version (0.4), the steel compactor can make a steel chunk from a single steel item, I tried checking the source code but I’m not sure If it checks for weight or what it really does…
Edit : after more searching/testing, I can now say that the steel compactor will only count how many items made of steel are on his tile, and then make a steel lump for every 10 items, and a steel chunk for every 3 items.
Moreover, any steel item will do, so you can actually turn a BB pellet (and probably other stuff) into a steel chunk with the compactor, just as if it was a steel pipe.
Therefore, if I make 4 chunks from 4 BBs, I can then make a lump through crafting, and 3 lumps make a frame so that’s 12BBs to make a steel frame (240 weight) for a vehicle.
Sounds legit.
I’m not sure what the fix could be but there’s probably a way to correct that.
The issue is that in iexamine.cpp, the function “recycler” uses a “do while” loop for chunk creation, meaning that a chunk will always be generated if there’s at least one steel item to start the loop, and even if there was just enough items for a single lump. The fix would be using a while loop.
A better fix would be a rehaul of the compactor code to account for weight, and also a normalization of the steel items weight values and recipes.
(Edited)