[T0T0R0]

The best part about that guy is the total absence of spoken language.

But, then, the source of the iron is also pretty incredible:

  Then I collected orange iron bacteria from 
  the creek (iron oxide), mixed it with charcoal 
  powder (carbon to reduce oxide to metal) and 
  wood ash (flux to lower the melting point) and 
  formed it into a cylindrical brick. I filled 
  the furnace with charcoal, put the ore brick in 
  and commenced firing. The ore brick melted and 
  produced slag with tiny, 1mm sized specs of iron 
  through it. My intent was not so much to make 
  iron but to show that the furnace can reach a 
  fairly high temperature using this blower.

[rusanu]

Bog iron [0] production was the predominant way of smelting iron before technology advanced to the point of being able to smelt iron ores. Iron Production in the Viking Age [1] has a really nice description and pictures of the process. This kind of smelting can be done with a small bloomery [2] and the resulted tiny iron specs result is called sponge iron. I wish Dwarf Fortress would implement this chain for environs that lack proper iron ores :)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_iron

[1] http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomery

[zdkl]

If you can work a forteress without both coal derivatives AND metallic ores deposits, you're a better dorf than I am.

[Brybry]

There are smelting bugs in the game where melting down certain items produces more metal than it takes to make them.

That and hatch covers (building destroyers can't destroy on different z-axis) makes it really hard to lose in Fun ways. Most of my fortresses die from FPS death.

[hobs]

Do you have water? A pump room with specific gates is a great way to murder traders and steal all of their things without them declaring war on you.

However, this entirely breaks the game and if you dont have your entrances and exists covered, you will be sieged VERY soon.

[shostack]

The really impressive feat is how humanity figured that out to begin with.

[13of40]

Sometimes you can find it just lying around on the ground:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_York_meteorite

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2909898/Befor...