Awakened tech with alluminium?

[SomePog]

So i was thinking about if you could make an awakened arm type structure (Like a prosthetic) and then incase that in an aluminum shell, could you then attach it (and with the right commands) have an aluminum arm that could basically just grab shardblades and nightblood?

[trav]

This is possible as long as you can get a fuel source (Investiture) into the inside of the arm. I am not sure at what rate an awakening object needs Investiture to keep on functioning. There is kind of conflicting information. Could be a little, could be a lot. Depends on the type of awakening and so on. But theoretically possible I would say.

Then again, why not just make Aluminum armor?

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by trav

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

19 minutes ago, trav said:

This is possible as long as you can get a fuel source (Investiture) into the inside of the arm. I am not sure at what rate an awakening object needs Investiture to keep on functioning. There is kind of conflicting information. Could be a little, could be a lot. Depends on the type of awakening and so on. But theoretically possible I would say.

Then again, why not just make Aluminum armor?

 

One little problem with aluminum vs Shardblades, aluminum negates the 'cut through basically anything like melted butter' but won't stop the actual 7-foot long blade from physically cutting into it. And aluminum doesn't tend to be the toughest metal.

[alder24]

10 hours ago, SomePog said:

So i was thinking about if you could make an awakened arm type structure (Like a prosthetic) and then incase that in an aluminum shell, could you then attach it (and with the right commands) have an aluminum arm that could basically just grab shardblades and nightblood?

Hard to say. First of, Awakened objects perceive the world somewhat similar to Steel Inquisitors, via Steelsight - if you encase the whole arm in aluminum, it won't be able to see and won't move at all. 

Spoiler

Questioner

In Awakening an object when you give it the sort of Command like, go get the keys, or something. How does that object perceive the world around it? Since it doesn't have standard human senses, how does it see? How does it touch?

Brandon Sanderson

It is not--

Moderator

Repeat the question.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh… go ahead.

Moderator

The question was, how do Awakened objects actually perceive the world.

Brandon Sanderson

…The closest correlation you have to this is how Inquisitors see.

Questioner

Okay, following up on that say, someone who has-- say someone with bronze who-- a bronze Misting managed to somehow get access to Breath and Awaken would he then be able to tell that object "Hey I sense this Allomancer over there, can you find it".

Brandon Sanderson

That is not outside the realm of possibility.

JordanCon 2016 (April 23, 2016)

Secondly aluminum has a field effect, it might mean that enough aluminum added to an Awakened object would fully disrupt it and it would just stop working. 

Spoiler

Questioner

Is aluminum shielding from emotional Allomancy strictly line of sight? So, can someone in the basement bypass somebody’s aluminum hat on the first floor

Brandon Sanderson

No, they could not. You just put enough aluminum there and it disrupts.

Questioner

So it disrupts like a field.

Brandon Sanderson

Yep.

Shadows of Self San Francisco signing (Oct. 9, 2015)

Whole arm encased in aluminum is impossible. But I personally think if you add some small aluminum plate, some small vambrace, the field effect of it might not be strong enough to disrupt it from working and you won't block its sight. But it has to be somewhat thick to withstand a physical cut from a Shardblade. You can use a stronger aluminum alloy, just like in Mistborn Era 2 they're using it to make bullets and pistols instead of pure aluminum - any aluminum alloy has effects of pure aluminum.

Spoiler

Yata

Hi, the community has a [question], we have two WoBs: Shardblades can cut aluminum and Shardblades can't cut it. Which one is true?

Brandon Sanderson (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3)

Hm. Yes, I wondered last night if I'd ever answered this before. Truth is, the answer is contentious at Team Sanderson.

I've been pushing for one answer, but Peter (whom I trust) is pushing back. We will see what ends up in the books as canon.

Problem with magic like I do is sometimes you have to wait for the scientific consensus... Err on "no" for now.

Peter Ahlstrom (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3)

Oh, I think aluminum would stop Shardblades from magical cutting. But if it's too thin like foil, a sword...

...would cut it anyway. What I'm arguing is that something else that Shardblades don't cut doesn't need...

...to necessarily be made of aluminum, for various reasons.

Yata

For example Invested objects (metalmind,spike,etc) or polestones (from some SA's Quote) ?

Peter Ahlstrom

RAFO

Footnote: The two conflicting WoBs can be found here and here. Also the "something else" that Peter was referring to is likely the Shardblade guards, which have since been confirmed to not be aluminum.
General Twitter 2017 (Feb. 3, 2017)

 

Spoiler

Longshot_97

This question concerns Mistborn Era 2. Aluminum at this time is supremely rare and quite expensive, and Wax is seen lamenting his profound lack of aluminum guns and bullets fairly often. However, couldn't he fashion a "Poor Man's Aluminum" of sorts by coating his guns (and potentially bullets) in a thin veneer of iron, then Feruchemically charging it? You've noted that metalminds can still be pushed, but much less than un-Invested metal. This could help him, in the absence of aluminum. So, is there a reason he has not done that?

Brandon Sanderson

The layer you would get by just that little coat would be so small that it'd have very little effect. Now, there's a pretty good argument for putting it into bullets. The problem there is: are the alloys that make good bullets going to work very well? Now, granted, aluminum doesn’t make for great bullets either. But any aluminum alloy kind of gets the property of aluminum. Where any iron alloy does not necessarily get the property of being able to allomantically or feruchemically interact with it in the right way. Can you get there? It's an excellent question that I perhaps should explore. I like this idea. But it's harder than you make it out to be. It is a good idea, though; it's a pretty good idea.

r/books AMA 2022 (July 7, 2022)

 

If you want to stop Shardblades, just make a thick aluminum shield, not with Awakening. If you want to hold Nightblood, just use an aluminum gauntlet, but you won't get all the benefits of the bond with Nightblood.

Spoiler

bubblebooy

Could one negate the negative effects of wielding Nightblood with an aluminum gauntlet?

Brandon Sanderson

*hesitantly* This is theoretically possible, but you also wouldn't get some of the benefits. But many of the benefits are not being utilized by people who draw Nightblood. So to some of them, it would be... you wouldn't be able to notice the difference.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 5 (Dec. 2, 2022)

 

[therunner he/him]

Interesting idea, and as people before me stated it would work to some extent.
 

4 hours ago, alder24 said:

You can use a stronger aluminum alloy, just like in Mistborn Era 2 they're using it to make bullets and pistols instead of pure aluminum - any aluminum alloy has effects of pure aluminum.

  Reveal hidden contents

Longshot_97

This question concerns Mistborn Era 2. Aluminum at this time is supremely rare and quite expensive, and Wax is seen lamenting his profound lack of aluminum guns and bullets fairly often. However, couldn't he fashion a "Poor Man's Aluminum" of sorts by coating his guns (and potentially bullets) in a thin veneer of iron, then Feruchemically charging it? You've noted that metalminds can still be pushed, but much less than un-Invested metal. This could help him, in the absence of aluminum. So, is there a reason he has not done that?

Brandon Sanderson

The layer you would get by just that little coat would be so small that it'd have very little effect. Now, there's a pretty good argument for putting it into bullets. The problem there is: are the alloys that make good bullets going to work very well? Now, granted, aluminum doesn’t make for great bullets either. But any aluminum alloy kind of gets the property of aluminum. Where any iron alloy does not necessarily get the property of being able to allomantically or feruchemically interact with it in the right way. Can you get there? It's an excellent question that I perhaps should explore. I like this idea. But it's harder than you make it out to be. It is a good idea, though; it's a pretty good idea.

r/books AMA 2022 (July 7, 2022)

 

Not any aluminum alloy. Duralumin is aluminum alloy and it is not inert to Investiture, someone would note if it was not Pullable/Pushable in Era 1.

And the WoB does say ' But any aluminum alloy kind of gets the property of aluminum ', so they most likely don't get all Investiture-relevant properties of aluminum, or they get them only to limited extent. In this context I would note that Duralumin is over 90% Aluminum, and seemingly has no properties of Aluminum at all.

[Forts Board]

The mental image of my third metal hand grabbing at a Shardblade as I frantically run for my life is too good to pass up.

#I'mreadyforanarmwrestleagainstaPewterArmnow