>dwarves maby, but who else woud be carrying around lumps of
>metal,.

There's mines around, and metal on miners and lying on the floor, but most of it is largely decorative.

>the options are endless,
>
>but the question is: is it worth it?

I think it might be. Even if making armor and weapons is out, maybe people could make some interesting looking jewelry, or even minor items for hard to fill slots like tails, claws, talons, wings, arial faces, etc.