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What Kinds Of Metal Would A Steampunk Society Use?

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kamikamiya Needs To Do Her Work! from Here and Deviantart Since: Jan, 2001
Needs To Do Her Work!
#1: Feb 14th 2011 at 7:05:19 PM

I'm trying to create this Steampunk society, and I'm not sure what kinds of metals they would or be able to use. I'm pretty sure brass is a go, but would they use bronze? Too outdated? And what about steel, could a city function without it? And is iron a go? I could really use some advice on this

But Don't Forget Knuckles O'Shaughnessy!
Iaculus Pronounced YAK-you-luss from England Since: May, 2010
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
#2: Feb 14th 2011 at 10:10:35 PM

A major factor in our world's Industrial Revolution was the technological advances in the iron-making industry, resulting in the superior cast-iron and eventually steel. Cast-iron in particular was used a great deal in infrastructure like railways and suspension bridges, and helped make it easier to build taller structures (a science later improved upon with steel to create the world's first skyscrapers). In fact, iron could be argued to be the most significant metal of the era.

Copper was also a big deal, especially for use in electrical wiring - though since this is a steampunk story, you might want to downplay that a bit. It also made for good pipes and boilers, due to its malleability, though for the bigger, less delicate steamworks, it tended to get phased out a bit by iron as the years went by. Still, it managed to retain a good chunk of usage - the famous Watt steam engine, for instance, used copper for its firebox because of the superior heat dissipation to the rest of the machine that it afforded, which also made it good for things like central heating, for which it is used to this day. There's also brass, a copper alloy, which has a superior resistance to corrosion and oxidation, making it good for use in harsh, demanding environments like ships and the like.

edited 14th Feb '11 10:11:56 PM by Iaculus

What's precedent ever done for us?
breadloaf Since: Oct, 2010
#3: Feb 14th 2011 at 11:00:51 PM

Well high quality bronze is really expensive but for a steampunk society, it seems like it would be great to use as you scour the planet for copper and tin, which are hard to get. Other than that, steel/brass are the other fun stuff. Everyone loves some kind of copper alloy when it comes to steampunk though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_alloy

doorhandle Since: Oct, 2010
#4: Feb 14th 2011 at 11:03:40 PM

Just a note on the above post: Steel would probably make more of an appearance in a steam punk story than in real life due to steam punk having a higher general technological level than the actual industrial era.

edited 14th Feb '11 11:06:00 PM by doorhandle

pathfinder Swords are for wimps from Bearbrass Since: Nov, 2010
Swords are for wimps
#5: Feb 15th 2011 at 12:38:35 AM

iron, cold hard iron, is the ruler of them all

but seriously, whilst iron would be the major metal, copper and brass would be super important too

aluminium probably wouldn't be, not until it was discovered that it's really common, and they've cracked the refining process (even today, it requires scads of electricity to process aluminium, not to metion cryolite as a flux). but once these criteria are met, it'll be mega important

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Ravager Mad Genius from New Zealand Since: Feb, 2011
Mad Genius
#6: Feb 15th 2011 at 1:11:03 AM

For some more interesting metals, you might consider some of the following (although the processing is more advanced than industrial revolution, it could also been done with simpler tools as well).

Titanium: This stuff is light, very strong, highly heat resistant and can be polished to a high sheen, and serves very well for surgical uses (both as blades and when implanted into the body.)

Tungsten: Works very well as a trade commodity (rarity, strength, heat resistance, etc) as well serving as a sort of 'adamantium' for the setting. It would also serve as the basis for AP rounds, and heaven forbid a region that discovers the process to create tungsten carbide en masse.

Zinc: Important for corrosion-proofing other materials, and in its own right as a substance for primary- and secondary-cell type batteries.

Chromium: Not that important, but it is very hard wearing when applied as a specific surface treatment, or very shiny when applied as a different type of treatment. It is also a key element in the creation of stainless steel (should your setting extend that far).

Iridium: With steampunk level development, this may or may not serve as unobtanium for you setting. Very hard, very dense, immune to almost any chemical attack (acid, alkali, etc), incredibly high melting point, and (if based on earth) having rarity of almost 1 part per billion of the planet's crust. (that said, Iridium is often found in much higher abundance in meteors).

I think that about does it for my list of interesting metals a steampunk society might, or might be able to, use.

What you say no to will always define you.
pathfinder Swords are for wimps from Bearbrass Since: Nov, 2010
Swords are for wimps
#7: Feb 15th 2011 at 8:45:44 AM

iridium is rather common at the K-T boundary layer, but otherwise, wish-granting fairies are more common

The terrible downside to multiple identities: multiple tax returns
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#8: Feb 20th 2011 at 8:17:14 AM

Iridium is heaps of fun. Ditto rare earth metals, which, while not quite as ridiculously rare as iridium, still have massive MacGuffin potential as ingredients in everything from stainless steel to high-powered magnets.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
between3and20 Since: Dec, 1969
#9: Mar 25th 2011 at 11:18:06 AM

Okay, when you're talking about metal, you're talking about heavier elements, which tend to be concentrated at the center of gravity when the planet is formed. The core of our planet is molten iron for the most part, which explains magnetic north and the magnetosphere. The metal mined on the planet's surface tends to be from meteor and asteroid impacts that happened after the planet formed. So whatever your society wants to use, that's where it came from.

Now as for being able to use it, the chinese were able to work iron several centuries before the industrial revolution. They were able to do this by developing giant furnaces, not intended to work iron but instead to boil seawater and harvest its salt. Salt was so valuable in ancient times that the romans used it as a form of currency.

When something makes money, its easy get people to expand on it. Big furnaces became bigger, wood fires upgraded to hotter burning coal and coke fires. Additional furnaces were built, some by rival merchant companies. And when the market flooded and the price of salt dropped, they began to look into other uses for the furnaces, including use as metal refineries...

So, to recap, the salt brings in money, which brings in merchants, which build furnaces, which brings in more money, which is spent on education, which leads to more scholars, who study astronomy and ancient documents, which lead to meteor crash sites, which leads to the discovery of rich sources of ore, which is refined by the furnaces to provide whatever metal you desire. After that its all Da Vinci notes and Heros of Alexandria down to steampunk town.

SavageHeathen Pro-Freedom Fanatic from Somewhere Since: Feb, 2011
Pro-Freedom Fanatic
#10: Mar 26th 2011 at 2:58:08 PM

Lotsa partly corroded, anti-stain painted steel. Copious amounts of lead and copper. Very limited application of aluminum, titanium and tungsten.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.
kegisak Element of Class Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
Element of Class
#11: Mar 27th 2011 at 3:39:15 AM

in a way, I think it may depend on the sub-style of Steampunk you're going for. Clockpunk, for example, would be largely brass and copper, as they, like the worlds they build, have a very clean look to them. For something like Dieselpunk, Iron is the way to go, as the process of smelting tends to make things really ugly and dirty, again, like the worlds that tend to be Dieselpunk. Your Gaslamp Romance would probably be bronze, or some older style of metal, etc, etc. Basically, consider what the world is going to be like politically speaking, and choose a metal that would reflect that, as Steampunk aesthetics tend to lean heavily on world they inhabit - For example, the novel Leviathan takes place during the first world war, and features Iron walker tanks that are big, dirty and ugly, whereas the mechanisms in Girl Genius tend to be much cleaner and sharper looking, to add to the fairly stable society and optimistic outlook towards science in general (it also provides a fantastic example of the difference in and of itself, as the design of the machines tends to vary from inventor to inventor, and even chapter to chapter, depending on their status in society and their personal alignment).

edited 27th Mar '11 3:39:50 AM by kegisak

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Wolf1066 Crazy Kiwi from New Zealand (Veteran) Relationship Status: Dancing with myself
Crazy Kiwi
#12: Mar 27th 2011 at 9:46:21 PM

Steel would not be unreasonable - after all, steel was heavily used in our own Victorian Era (as was mass production of goods including pre-shaped wooden pieces) and that's the core of many a steampunk story.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#13: Mar 28th 2011 at 8:39:19 AM

Copper, bronze and wood seem to be the steampunk materials of choice. Iron is good for a brutal, heartless sort of vibe (think Technician Versus Performer; iron is for technicians, but performers use the other materials), and high-quality steel replaces titanium for the ubermetal of choice. Other things like titanium, aluminum and tungsten are completely unheard of.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
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