Practice Welding

Finish Keep the Change and Wade moves back to his own yard. Walk in and he will offer you 10,000 Hours; accepting it hands you six Scrap Metal and opens the workbench.

He hands over all six pieces or none. Scrap does not stack, so each piece takes an inventory slot — if you have not got room for all six he will tell you to make room and come back, and nothing is handed over or started until you do.

One Start keeps the bench going: as each weld finishes the next one begins, taking two more scrap, until there is not enough left for another. It keeps going while you are away from the screen, the same as any other work.

Stop whenever you like. The half-finished weld stays exactly as it is, and so does the scrap you already spent on it — resuming continues that same weld and costs nothing, even with no scrap left at all. Walking away from the yard stops the bench the same way; you cannot weld from the road.

When the scrap runs out the bench finishes the weld in progress and stops on its own, saying so. Buying more does not start it again — that is your call.

If you would rather the weld on the bench finish without another one starting after it, use Finish Weld & Stop instead of an ordinary Stop. It lets that weld run to completion — full XP and output, same as always — then leaves the bench clear instead of spending scrap on the next one. It works whether the weld is currently running or already Stopped partway through.

There is only one Workbench, and it holds one piece of work at a time. An unfinished practice weld — one whose scrap is already spent — counts as occupying it, even after you have Stopped it. Take on a paying Work Order and you will be asked to finish that weld first, or to clear the bench with Finish Weld & Stop. It works the other way too: a client's job on the bench means no fresh practice weld until that job is finished.

Wade sells Scrap Metal at 2 Credits a piece out of the yard, with no limit but your Credits and your inventory. He does not buy anything back.

Slag is yours to keep or throw out: the bench has a setting for it, applied as each weld finishes. Bix pays 1 Credit apiece for Slag in town, so a 4-Credit weld can return 2 if you keep both and sell them. If you keep Slag and run out of room for it, the overflow is thrown out rather than stopping the weld.

There is a beaten-up terminal in the corner of the yard, and it is not just scenery any more. Once you are good enough with a torch, it is where the paying jobs come in — see Work Orders for how the board works.