Super Strong robotic prosthesis steampunk Style

Question

I'm thinking of a character that has the magical ability to transform parts of his body into technology, similar to Generator Rex or Bleeding armor iron man, but only with the technology that he "understands" and obviously of his time, as it is a magical environment I thought about the steam engines of the Victorian era.

Although his power originates from magic, I want to make it clear that I am not justifying everything with that, I would like to learn how it could work, and I want to clarify what does his magical ability to have a logical explanation for everything else;

-His magical ability allows him to transform the mass of his body into technology that he know how to build, or create, and understand how they work directly, I don't want you to respond that you could not because he do not know how chemical reactions work or something like that , that is not necessary for him.

-Him can only transform his matter into the other necessary matter as long as you have touched it at some point, just assume for now that he already touched all the necessary materials, it doesn't matter how much he has touched.

-Don't ask what happens with the circulation or his cells among other things, magic only protects him in some way, however the only thing that can not transform is his brain, that would kill him.

-He can dismantle the technology in which he converted his body while it is designed for this, and he can control his movement magically, slightly, he can only approach it to him, by the floor or even air, he can also rotate it around him in any direction , if the materials of him body gets broken or separated for some other reason he can also do that, he can re-unite it with his body in some way, think of Eddie Brock and the symbiote Venom.

-This control similar to a telekinetic one on the matter that he transform and expel, only works with the matter that is not connected to his body, I don't want to only use that power to move his technology easily.

-When he has scarce of material, his body first tries to remove matter from the nonessential fat in his body to transform, if he needs more, from the muscular mass, the process will stop after an unhealthy point

• If the biological body is injured, it can be regenerated by taking of the extra matter, or in a similar way to the one mentioned in the previous point.
• He can keep transformed parts of his body in technology, or at least in other materials as much as he wants, also keep his materials orbiting around him, for as long as he wants.

Now, taking this into account, how strong could this prostheses be? and with this literally I mean how strong they could be, making all the necessary modifications, I read in some of the other questions about steam engines that if they used h2o2 instead of normal water they would be better machines, or if they used amber instead Of carbon would happen something similar, or that glass containers would be lighter, or that other metals would be used, it does not bother me if you want to use electricity while sitting at the technological level of the time, and as long at is the result of the mechanical energy that the steam made, you can take as many liberties as you can or want, while sitting down the time, let's just assume that the possessor of the powers is as intelligent and wise as is necessary

Although my ignorance in this type of machines makes me doubt about how strong it could be,I would like to know some abilities of someone like this, how fast could you run or move? How much weight could you lift, move, or hit ? How varied could your skills and abilities be? Is it better to get fatter, or to have more muscle in order to gain material?

I was also curious if it is possible some machines that i imagine my character using, strong metal arms, capable of lifting or moving a ton, legs of slow acceleration but reaching great speeds, tentacles that could use as much as whips as those of a octopus, to hold things firmly in rare positions or reach difficult points, electrified punch, plasma cutter, taser gun, a harpoon and the ability to transform your arms into a sword and a shield.

I know it is a question ... very specific, long and maybe absurd, also my english isn't the best but I would appreciate someone to clarify even a little my doubts, thank you.

Edit I try represent his powers graphically, he is not green but, well

Answer 1

How strong his prostheses would be would depend entirely on his engineering (crafting) background. The reason I say this is because of the following line.

"...into technology that he know how to build, or create..."

With only a basic understanding of how steam gets converted into work he might be able to make a machine that does .2 horse power to .5 horse power.

If they are at the fore front of steam engine technology (this character holds patents for the most efficient and powerful engines of the time) and they are given the power without need for manufacturing to construct a machine to their hearts desire.

Well I'm sure that by bypassing traditional means of manufacturing one could create unbelievably powerful engines. No need for welds/rivets to join parts together. A magically created perfect sphere would be able to hold more pressure than a hammered out one. When making a machine they could trap enough air under high pressure with a mechanical valve and use it to get the furnace to a higher temperature.

With all this I would still say that in Victorian era limited to a size of a human body, they might be able to get ~5hp to ~10hp (maybe more if constructed for a one time use [create an engine with just a ton of potential stored kinetic energy]).

Note: Can they create parts already under stress. Can they just create an already loaded and cocked crossbow?