Vulcanus casting ratios: foundries, molten metal and plates
One foundry making molten iron from lava feeds 3.75 foundries casting iron plates. Four casting foundries make 15 plates per second, a full yellow belt, and need a little more than one molten iron foundry. The same numbers hold for copper.
The recipes
| Recipe | In | Out | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Molten iron from lava | 500 lava, 1 calcite | 250 molten iron, 10 stone | 16 s |
| Molten copper from lava | 500 lava, 1 calcite | 250 molten copper, 15 stone | 16 s |
| Casting iron | 20 molten iron | 2 iron plates | 3.2 s |
| Casting copper | 20 molten copper | 2 copper plates | 3.2 s |
| Casting steel | 30 molten iron | 1 steel plate | 3.2 s |
A normal foundry has crafting speed 4 and a built-in 50% productivity bonus. The figures below use that, with no modules or beacons.
One foundry per second
| Foundry making | Uses per second | Makes per second |
|---|---|---|
| Molten iron (or copper) from lava | 125 lava, 0.25 calcite | 93.75 molten metal, plus stone |
| Iron or copper plates | 25 molten metal | 3.75 plates |
| Steel plate | 37.5 molten iron | 1.875 steel |
Ratios that fill a belt
| Plates per second | Casting foundries | Molten metal foundries |
|---|---|---|
| 15 (yellow belt) | 4 | 1.07, so 2 if you want headroom |
| 30 (red belt) | 8 | 2.13 |
| 45 (blue belt) | 12 | 3.2 |
| 60 (turbo belt) | 16 | 4.27 |
For steel, one molten iron foundry feeds 2.5 steel casting foundries, which make about 4.7 steel per second.
Things that trip people up
- Stone piles up. Every lava recipe also makes stone. Use it for bricks, landfill or concrete, or void it, or the lava foundries stop.
- Calcite is the real input. Lava is free from an offshore pump, so calcite mining decides how much metal you get: 0.25 calcite per second per lava foundry.
- Molten metal cannot be barreled. Cast plates, gears, pipes or wires next to the lava foundries and ship the solids.
- Casting skips assemblers. Foundries also cast gears, pipes, copper cable and more straight from molten metal, which is why Vulcanus bases look so different from Nauvis.
Ore can also be melted down anywhere: 50 ore and 1 calcite make 500 molten metal in 32 seconds, so with the foundry bonus one ore becomes 15 molten metal instead of 10.
Ready-made builds: Vulcanus blueprints.