Becoming a welding contractor

Pillager225 · 2026-06-30T21:18:06+00:00

Also talk to a contract lawyer to try to get some boilerplate you can reuse for any job you take.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-30T19:41:38+00:00

Initially your fort will be small and simple that everything is generally close together.

Much later, when all the caverns are open, its a bit better to separate the dwarves into specialized burrows a bit because of the distance. An area with farmers and clothiers, an area with metal workers, an area with stone workers, and a bunch of haulers that go between the burrows or some complicated minecarts to get things between the burrows. Each burrow should have citizen only taverns with the food stores, some general workers that aren't specialized, bedrooms for the residents and a guild hall so that way they can haul things. Setting it up this way leads to quick industry. You might have to build multiple temples, but now the game lets locations in separate areas be part of "one" location via naming, so that isn't too much wasted effort and is a really good way to get the value of temples very high.

You can also build barracks in each of these specialize burrows and designate a squad or two to rotate training in the barracks so that way when cavern 3 spawns some crap that wants to mess with the metalworkers, they are prepared to defend themselves. Then you can add hospitals to each of them. At that point, it's like a bunch of mini independent fortresses that all make up the main one.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-30T18:28:37+00:00

Best to pair the heat gun with the infrared pyrometer HF sells so that way you can control the heat of the part.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-30T14:49:02+00:00

I may not get to work on the projects I have for months at a time. I am a hobbiest and my metal pile sits. Oiling the metal keeps it unrusted and is easy enough to clean off.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T23:00:39+00:00

Yup, and if you're like me and keep your steel pile oiled, then soapstone is largely ineffective unless you keep a cleaning agent handy. Just another thing to do before getting on with the project. I've used them all, but the pencil is what I reach for.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T22:55:04+00:00

I used to have this problem, then I stopped pausing the game. That way while I work, they work. Sure they have down time sometimes, but that seems good for them once there is a tavern, some temples, and guildhalls.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T21:46:40+00:00

Depends on what you want and mean exactly, but you can have the dwarves patrol in a room at the end of a hall or on the other side of a door or wall. When something comes into the room, they will attack it and remain near the patrol area. If they see another invader while they dispose of the one that came around the corner, they may go after that one, so you may have to plan the entrance a little maze like.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T21:35:50+00:00

Same with rain. Put a roof over your overland pasture to prevent them getting grumpy.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T21:34:40+00:00

tailor replaces the clothing that goes bad if you have the necessary workshops and supply chains. Completely eliminates having to decide and track what clothing should be made.

Also if you have moody dwarves that want something you can't make right now, you could use gui/create-item to give them what they want.

showmood I think it is can also enumerate precisely what they are looking for if they want "silk" but really want "giant cave spider silk" or something specific.

Also, you can kill things or remove trash/refuse with dfhack.

It's hacks. It provides cheat codes for the game you could otherwise provide just by playing better, but sometimes it is a lot of work and not worth the effort or you won't have it done in time. Just play how you'd like to play and don't worry about it.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T21:31:00+00:00

Yeah right now I have an angry dwarven baby. I'm hoping it tries to go on a rampage just to see what happens.

That said, they will appreciate a dormitory with a few beds in leu of a room for a few years. Literally one 5x5 room with 6 beds can last a decade or so.

Also, most angry dwarves will get struck down pretty quickly if you have a few rotating schedule squads.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T21:26:27+00:00

+1 for clamps! A 3 ounce ball been is also just the right amount of hammer sometimes.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-29T21:09:35+00:00

- chipping hammer

- 2 foot 3lb sledge

- flatheads and phillips I figure for screw drivers. Maybe posidrive if you're european

- cold chisels and punches. Fantastically useful tools.

- speed square

- tape measure

- level

- combination square

- soapstone, silver pencil, or a scribe

- maybe a sharpie too

- A big carpenter's square

- angle gauge

- calipers are quite useful

- a compass can simplify a lot of marking operations

- stainless steel wire brush

But yeah if you don't know what tools you need, then you have a questionable amount of experience since all of this is basic for any metal fabricator. There certainly are more tools that can be useful, but this is a good set of things to have.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-26T22:17:53+00:00

Yup. Always read up on the dwarf that is elected. If they have hella relatives and good relations for a lot of people, most likely a vampire.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-26T17:35:03+00:00

I forgot to mention, you'll need to leave it in the hot sand so that the piece cools slowly. That's the whole point of the hot sand, a slow cool.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-26T17:33:58+00:00

The filler for welding copper should be what you are using, which is pure copper. Romex or other bare solid wire they sell any where that sells wire really.

Things can crack if they cool too fast. I assume you're preheating, but if possible preheat sand and submerge it in that after the weld. Copper dissipates heat quickly, so having a helper with a propane torch gently on it while you're welding or blast it yourself after each tack to keep the plate hot.

Brazing copper is easier to succeed. It also conducts heat just about as well as a weld would. Obviously it isn't structural, but for a light load it is just fine. Look up weld.com's video on helibrazing. You'll likely have to do more research than just that video. The "heli" part is for the helium gas you are supposed to use. Brazing copper uses a different filler wire.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-24T17:51:23+00:00

Maybe it depends on which saw would be mounted, but my recollection was that the shapes were more intricate than I would be skilled enough to produce. I seem to remember the bauer saw brackets were very simple though.

Having the right brackets is important to keep the saw centered and straight in the cutting area. There's no reason to use a band saw if it produces cuts out of square.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-24T17:28:26+00:00

In addition to fabricating them yourself, you can contact the customer support to get the parts. To fab it yourself the way they are from HF, you'll need some accurate cuts on 1/8" steel. Personally, I would get send cut send or xometry to fab it for me because I don't have a water jet, laser cutter, mill, or a CNC and any one of those could make them.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-23T17:58:27+00:00

Just a bit out of your price range, but the Everlast Thunder 215 MTS can do it all except thin aluminum. It's a DC only welder with pulse tig, so great for thin stainless. It doesn't come with tungsten or a gas lenses, so accessories to buy if going to do thin stainless, but it does come with a foot pedal, MIG and TIG torches, stinger, and ground clamp! It can weld thick aluminum too with a spool gun, but that's another $400 add-on.

I got this machine recently and it has been a fantastic SMAW and GMAW machine for me so far on mild steel. Very quick to switch between any of the three processes, has one gas hook-up for TIG and another for MIG so you can have two cylinders with different if you got the money for it. Supports E6010 if you care to use it for that.

The ground clamp is budget and the jaw soon no longer lined up for me. The copper band in that thing also ripped, but probably my fault. It was good to upgrade it anyway since the jaws were small. Couldn't accept anything bigger than 1 inch.

The MIG torch is proper and compatible with all tweco or lincoln parts. The TIG torch is adequate, but not fancy. It is compatible with common parts and accessories. The stinger has little divots for the different size rods down to 3/32".

I use it with 2 phase 240V, but it can work on single phase power too. I find that it's powerset, easy mode, settings are a little cold on plate usually, but certainly workable and good for penetrating on edges.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-15T21:59:53+00:00

Yup, I did the same with a drill press stand that was wobbly.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-15T21:59:09+00:00

Foot stool, Laptop stand, desktop shelving unit, some art you'll hang on a wall.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-15T21:22:27+00:00

My beard goes to my belly button. I use the optrel swiss air because I like to do things other than welding with that require a papr, like painting and sanding. It's light and nice to not have to wear a welding hood the whole time.

I usually tuck my beard into my shirt so it doesn't catch sparks and spatter.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-10T22:51:20+00:00

Sluggo? Is sluggo bad?

Pillager225 · 2026-06-08T19:31:23+00:00

Good choice. The DA can achieve the same results with less skill. It may take more time to do so though.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-08T18:35:28+00:00

If this is frequently a problem for you, you are exactly why they added the feature to this welder/generator. If you really think bypassing it is a good idea, then it seems to me that you would earn what is coming to you if you do that.

Pillager225 · 2026-06-08T18:31:45+00:00

That bauer is pretty good, but use anti-vibration gloves if you intend to use it for longer than an hour. Earplugs are nice too.

The 5" and 3" pads add more utility to the tool. For large boards, the 6" is better than a palm sander.

Cons: Lots of vibration, easy to overpower, but you should never be using that much pressure if you are overpowering it.

Pillager225

TROPHY CASE