Islands Reborn Steel Press: Crafting Costs, Setup, and Molds

The Islands Reborn steel press is an industrial machine used to stamp steel ingots into plates, rods, and bolts. Crafting it requires 100 copper plates, 250 copper rods, and 25 steel rods after completing the copper tier.

Crafting Requirements and Upstream Dependencies

Unlocking the steel press at the workbench requires progressing through the copper automation stage introduced in the Factory Update. The recipe demands three distinct processed components:

• 100 copper plates
• 250 copper rods
• 25 steel rods

Securing these materials requires automated upstream machinery. Steel rods can no longer be assembled directly from raw iron at the anvil. Producing steel rods requires steel ingots, which depend entirely on building an operational steel mill. A steel mill costs 100 iron and 50 gold ore ingots to construct at your base. Once placed, the mill takes iron ingots and coal delivered by conveyors to smelt steel ingots over time.

Acquiring the copper plates and rods requires processing raw copper ore. In Islands Reborn, resource deposits appear directly on player islands or on separate resource islands that appear every 20 hours. Placing automated drills over these deposits extracts raw copper into smelters and copper presses, which stamp the base components needed to assemble the steel press.

Factory Line Placement and Conveyor Setup

The steel press operates at the final stage of a metal processing system. Setting up the machine requires connecting your smelter or mill output into the press intake before depositing finished goods into storage.

In an active steel farm design, conveyors route steel ingots out of the steel mill directly into the intake of the steel press. A mold must be inserted into the press to specify which item it produces. Once stamped, the resulting items move along an exit conveyor or drop directly into an attached storage chest. When planning your layout, keeping the production line compact prevents item despawns and ensures steady delivery from input to final output. Players expanding production over multi-floor layouts can coordinate conveyors through organized steel mill layers to keep inputs moving smoothly.

Mold Selection and Production Choices

A steel press requires an active mold to process incoming steel ingots. The mold you insert dictates the product stamped by the press, allowing you to alternate between structural parts and assembly components.

Inserting the chosen mold into the machine defines the line's output. Exchanging molds allows the same press placement to switch between diverse steel press items as your building goals change.

Economic Value and Merchant Trading

Operating a steel press provides access to the highest-tier factory goods in Islands Reborn. Beyond supplying basic construction materials, stamping steel components allows workshops to assemble advanced mechanical goods.

Assembled items such as gear boxes use these stamped steel parts and sell directly to the merchant mechanic for 30,000 coins each. This makes the steel press a core asset for late-stage money making, transforming raw coal, iron, and copper supplies into high-value trade items.