How to Forge Aluminum and Make an Aluminum Barrel

From Bauxite Ore to Aluminum Ingot

Mine Bauxite Ore and process it into Bauxite Dust. Use the forge_hammer recipe type to break down the ore, then smelt or blast the dust into an Aluminum Ingot. You will also generate Aluminum Tiny Dust and Aluminum Nugget as byproducts; keep them, since nine Nuggets recombine into one Ingot and nine Tiny Dusts recombine into one Nugget.

Once you have Ingots, craft them into Aluminum Large Plate, Aluminum Gear, Aluminum Ring, Aluminum Rotor, Aluminum Blade, and Aluminum Cable as needed. Aluminum Drill Head plus an Aluminum Drill gives you a basic mining tool.

Building the Barrel

Combine Aluminum Large Plate into an Aluminum Barrel. The Barrel is your early fluid and item buffer. Pair it with an Aluminum Tank for larger fluid storage, and run Black Fluid Pipe or Black Item Pipe to move contents between the Barrel, Tank, and machines.

For machine frames, craft Basic Machine Hull from Aluminum plates and casings. When you outgrow Basic, upgrade to Advanced Machine Hull and Advanced Machine Casing using Advanced Motor and Advanced Pump components built from Aluminum Rotor, Aluminum Ring, and Aluminum Cable. Aluminum is the backbone of your early progression, so keep a steady Bauxite supply running through your forge_hammer and furnace setup.