Softening Beam
| Softening Beam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Workstation |
| Type | Workstation |
| Build Menu | Farming |
| Build Skill | Carpentry: 0 |
| Build XP | Carpentry: 6 |
| Build Tools | Claw Hammer |
| Recipes | 2 |
| Crafts | Farming |
| Location | Built |
The Softening Beam is a wooden beam for scraping flesh and fur off fresh hides. The in-game tooltip says it allows flesh and fur to be removed from Leather.
It is the first step of leather making in the Farming menu. A fresh hide from a butchered animal comes here before anything else. After scraping, the hide goes to the Tannin Barrel and then to a drying rack. The finished leather ends up in Tailoring. The beam is cheap, so it is often the first leather station a hunter builds. It is built from planks and nails.
Hides come from butchering cattle, sheep, pigs, deer, rabbits and raccoons. Each carcass gives one unprocessed hide. The tooltip on an unprocessed hide says it can be processed on a Softening Beam. The beam is the gate between a hunt or a farm animal and every leather craft that follows.
How to Build Softening Beam
The build is called Softening Beam and sits in the Farming build menu. It takes two Plank and two Nails. A hammer is needed, and it is kept after the build.
The build gives 6 Carpentry XP. It asks for no skill level and is known from the start.
That makes it one of the easiest stations in the game to put up. The Tannin Barrel takes the same planks, nails and hammer. Both can go up together on the first day of leather work. The beam can be picked up and moved later like other furniture.
The Softening Beam recipe is in the Farming build menu. It needs Carpentry level 0.
| Name | Image | Amount | Kept | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claw Hammer | 
|
1x | Yes | /additem Base.Hammer
|
| Plank | 
|
2x | No | /additem Base.Plank
|
| Nails | 
|
2x | No | /additem Base.Nails
|
How to Use Softening Beam
Both jobs at the beam need a fleshing tool, which comes back after each use. A Fleshing Tool can be forged at a forge by a smith who has learned it.
Any size of hide fits the beam. The choice is between two jobs. Removing only the flesh keeps the fur on the hide. Removing the fur as well gives a bare, crude hide.
There are two fleshing tools. The Fleshing Tool is metal and is forged with Forge Fleshing Tool at a Primitive Forge or better. That recipe asks for Blacksmithing level 3 and must be learned. American Bladecraft magazine, the Blacksmith Knowledge trait and the Blacksmith occupation teach it. It is also learned automatically at Blacksmithing level 5.
The Bone Fleshing Tool is carved by hand from an Animal Bone or a Large Animal Bone. Carve Fleshing Tool asks for Carving level 2 and must be learned. Tool Use of Early Man magazine, the Whittler trait and the Bushcrafter trait teach it. It is also learned automatically at Carving level 4.
Fleshing Tools turn up in kitchens, butcher shops and outdoor supply stores. The bone version wears out faster than the metal one.
Crafting Recipes
Remove Flesh scrapes a full hide down to a furred hide. Examples are Sheep Hide (Furred), Deer Hide (Furred) and Rabbit Hide (Furred). This is the path for warm furred leather.
Remove Fur takes a furred hide and strips the fur. The result is Large Hide (Crude), Medium Hide (Crude) or Small Hide (Crude), depending on the animal. Crude hide is the plain leather path.
Both recipes ask for no skill and are known from the start.
A bare hide needs both jobs in a row. Flesh comes off first, then the fur. Furred hides go straight to the Tannin Barrel when warm fur is wanted. Crude hides carry the tooltip that they can be tanned in a Tannin Barrel.
A Large Hide (Crude) or Medium Hide (Crude) can be cut in half with a sharp knife or scissors. Cutting gives two hides of the next size down. This helps when only a smaller drying rack stands at the base.
Every recipe made at the Softening Beam is listed with what it uses up, the tools it hands back and the skill it asks for. A "Yes" under Learned means the recipe has to be learned before it shows up.
| Name | Image | Recipe | Crafting Materials | Tools | Skill | Learned | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angus Hide (Furred) | 
|
Remove Flesh | 1x Angus Hide (Unprocessed) | Fleshing Tool | None | No | /additem Base.CowLeather_Angus_Fur
|
| Large Hide (Crude) | 
|
Remove Fur | 1x Angus Hide (Furred) | Fleshing Tool | None | No | /additem Base.Leather_Crude_Large
|
Notes
- The tooltip says it removes flesh and fur from Leather.
- The fleshing tool is kept after every job.
- Remove Flesh keeps the fur, and Remove Fur takes it off.
- All hide sizes work on the same beam.
- A Bone Fleshing Tool can be carved from an animal bone without a forge.
- The hammer used for the build is kept.
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