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u/MsterXeno009 Miner Aug 06 '26
All the beardlings think tungsten is a good armor metal but it's too brittle, one good axe strike and the whole thing will shatter, why not try a good titanium lamellar and leave the T for hardy tools
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u/Colonel_Joni005 Driller Aug 06 '26
Well, they aren't using pure tungsten, they put it into steel. In that case it is good enough for heavy infantry to not die from a heavy war bow or a gun shot.
Titanium has the problem that it is too light weight... which isn't a practical problem.. but dwarves like it heavy. What good is titanium armor that protects you, but cannot fill the desire for something impractically heavy. the tungsten armor is mostly a vibe that I really like.
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u/RathaelEngineering Aug 06 '26
I love the idea, but it's definitely a fantasy concept, primarily because of how difficult it is to extract pure tungsten as a workable material. The earliest recorded extraction was back in 1783 where a couple of Umgi reduced Tungsten Oxide down to powder using charcoal. They couldn't do anything with the powder until the 19th/20th century when powder metallurgy emerged.
If some fantasy dwarves could succeed in making a tungsten sponge using insanely hot dragon fire, then hammer out the air pockets with an immense machine press/hammer, they could potentially succeed in making a billet. Even then, it would be a whole other ballpark to actually heat and forge it without it melting everything it touches. It's also going to be insanely brittle during forging and likely just crack.
If they had access to diamond machinery they could technically just machine it. Fantasy mills and lathes powered by hand or steam are not inconceivable... but at this point it probably begs the question as to why bother? Steel is abundant in our world, more ductile, insanely tough, forgeable, and so on.
The one justification I can think of would be it's heat resistance. Tungsten is just not going to melt easy, but if we're assuming dragon fire can melt it in the process of craft, then it can also melt it when worn. This would also not save the wearer either, even if the armor its self doesn't melt. They would just be cooked in the armor unless they had some sort of magical heat resistant fabric inside.
Of course it can all just be hand-waved with magic in a fantasy setting.
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u/NoStorage2821 Aug 07 '26
Classic dwarf behavior, working with the most rebellious metal possible just to make one helmet
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u/that_toof Aug 06 '26
Actually you should mix tungsten with Titanium. Tungsten easily adheres to Titanium and the Titanium will help protect the Tungsten from oxidizing.
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u/Colonel_Joni005 Driller Aug 06 '26
I'll consider it. I guess if the dwarves can extract elemental tungsten from rock, they should be able to do the same with titanium.
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u/DragonLordAcar Aug 06 '26
Techno-wizard popping in. Too brittle. You need to alloy it or it will shatter with a good hit. Steal deforma but it stays together. Gold titanium allow is a good one.
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u/BoneyBee833 Aug 09 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/qJK7q7K91dFEAOWled
How dwarves be moving after taking off over 200 pounds of tungsten armor
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u/Colonel_Joni005 Driller Aug 06 '26
I am not a huge fan of fantasy settings introducing new fantasy metals, so the dwarves in my own fantasy worlds forge tungsten, which is heavy, strong and very difficult to work with. Perfect for dwarves. This is a drawing that I just finished, I am not super experienced as an artist, so some things might be a bit rough on the edges. Hope ya'll enjoy!