kathryn, yes, you've got the first step right. I found this guide to be the most helpful, as far as step by step instructions on this part:
http://www.neopets.com/~NikitachiNow what you'll want to do is repeat that step for all the other pieces of scrap metal you've been given. If you leave at this point and then come back, you'll have the same ones. But if you "complete" this step (as in choose what to melt down, then succeed OR fail) and then try to make another rod, you'll get 10 different pieces of scrap metal.
Once you have the composition of all ten pieces, go over all of them and group each amount by *element*. In other words, put all your Neopium amounts together, all your Faerillium amounts together, and so on. My personal list looks something like this (I abbreviated all the elements to save space and writing time):
Md: 1.1, 2.0, 1.9, 0.1, 1.0
Sl: 1.8, 0.9, 0.1, 0.1
Ty: 1.0, 0.8, 0.8, 2.0
Xw: 1.9
and so on. Your numbers will very likely be different.
Now, check the 3-2 list on the pet page I linked you to. That list is of the amount of each element needed to successfully create a rod of that element. That is, it shows you how much Xweetite you need to create a Xweetite rod. So far, so good?
You can get that amount in one of two ways:
1) One of your scrap metal pieces will have the exact amount of whatever element to create a rod. Example: According to that list, you need 1.8 kg of Zafarium to make a Zafarium rod. Well, let's say that one of your scrap metal pieces just happens to contain this EXACT amount, based on your calculations. If this is the case, ONLY choose that ONE piece of metal, and melt it down. Soon, you'll have your rod.
2) If 1) does not apply to you, then go back to your list that's grouped by elements. Add each of those numbers together. For example, going back to my list above:
Md: 1.1 + 2.0 + 1.9 + 0.1 + 1.0 = 6.1
Sl: 1.8 + 0.9 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 2.9
Ty: 1.0 + 0.8 + 0.8 + 2.0 = 4.6
and so on. Now look at the
totals you have and compare them to the list on the guide. If you've done your math correctly, only one element total will match up
exactly with one on the list. Once you've identified that element, go back and locate the pieces of scrap metal that have this element in it. Select them, and melt those together.
Keep in mind, though, that the furnace can only handle 10 kg of metal total. So far, every time I've had to follow my step 2), the pieces of metal also came under this limit and so I didn't have to worry about it. BUT, it's something to keep in mind. It's possible that you may not need to include every piece of the scrap metal that contains that element, but just the ones that add up to the required total.
EDIT: You might have to do some extra calculating after all.
For example, I
just made a rod out of Faeryllium this way. Out of all the scrap metal pieces I'd been given, 5 contained Faeryllium. According to the list, 5.3 kg is needed to create a Faeryllium rod. However, when I added my 5 pieces up, it came to 6.7 kg - too much. But 6.7-5.3=1.4, so if I could shave 1.4 kg off, I could make a Faeryllium rod. Here's what I had:
Fae: 0.2, 1.4, 1.2, 1.9, 2.0
Aha! I have a piece in there that contained exactly 1.4 kg! So I set it aside and added up the
total mass of the pieces I had left - but I couldn't use them, because their combined total mass was 10.2 kg- too much for the furnace to handle. That wouldn't work...but now I notice I've also got a piece with 0.2 kg and another with 1.2 kg. 0.2+1.2=1.4. If I leave
those two out, that leaves me with 1.4+1.9+2.0, which adds up to the 5.3 kg I need. Add up the total mass of those three pieces, and it comes under the 10 kg limit. I toss 'em in the furnace, and 180 sconds later, boom, success.
If my explanation's confusing, the guide I linked to (also linked to elsewhere in this thread) does a better job overall of explaining things and guiding you through the process. Hope this helps!