Rulings!

Okay a couple of rulings, as requested by Todd, who has not confirmed or denied that he is joining.

You cannot use scrap metal in the form it was found. For example, you cannot use a scrap section of railroad tie as an anvil. The metal must be made to molten, then poured or cast.

You can use organic or mineral materials as found. If you find a vein of pure copper ore you can pound or shape it any way you like without first melting it down. You can also use found organic and mineral materials as found too; if you happen upon a deer skeleton (whether you killed it or found it) you can use the bones, teeth, etc as you see fit. You can also purchase materials as they come out of the ground, though they cannot be processed. As an example you can buy coal but not coke.

Also - this is not an exercise in chopping firewood. You can use whatever scraps of wood you want as firewood or to make charcoal. If you're using the wood to make a tool or in some other way as part of a project you must chop it up yourself. Burn scrap 2x4's, but that lathe spindle can't be made from a dowel rod that you bought.

On the subject of making tools and buying improved versions; you cannot exceed 3x the weight of the original item, and your purchased tool cannot have any features your home-built tool does not. For example; if you cast a 1-pound copper hammer you can purchase up to a 3-pound hammer for your team use, but it cannot have a claw if yours didn't. Another example; if you build a 10-pound anvil out of brass you cannot buy a steel anvil, and you cannot buy an anvil with a hardy hole if yours didn't have one.