Codex Processing Metal Former

Metal Former

The Metal Former presses ingots into plates, rods, gears, wires and blocks. Which of these it makes depends on the die you put in. It is one of the four machines you can build from the start, and it makes the steel parts of almost every later machine.

Property	Value
Tier	1
Energy buffer	20,000 E
Max. input	4000 E/t
Input slots	1
Output slots	1
Upgrade slots	3
Recipe type	Pressing

The Metal Former window: 1 input slots, 2 progress, 3 output slots, 4 upgrade slots, 5 energy and tank bars, 6 value, status and redstone lines, 7 buttons (redstone mode, telemetry, codex).

What it does

Put a die into the die slot under the progress arrow, an item into the input slot, and give the Metal Former energy. One run takes the item, uses energy every tick and puts the product into the output slot. The die is never used up.

Die	Makes
Plate Die	plates (and the other pressing recipes)
Rod Die	rods
Gear Die	gears
Wire Die	wires
Block Die	storage blocks, and ingots from nuggets

Without a die nothing runs and the status line says "Insert a die". Change the die between runs: taking the die out or swapping it while a run is going ends the run, and the inputs go back into the input slot. A run that is done and only waits for room in the output keeps its product.

Recipes for every metal

For every metal and gem that the game knows through the c: tags, QNet makes the recipes by itself from these templates, one table per die. A metal from another mod therefore gets plates, rods, gears and wires just like iron or copper.

Plate Die:

In	Out	E/t	Ticks	When
Ingot	Plate	60	100	always

Rod Die:

In	Out	E/t	Ticks	When
Ingot	2 × Rod	60	100	always

Gear Die:

In	Out	E/t	Ticks	When
4 × Ingot	Gear	60	200	always

Wire Die:

In	Out	E/t	Ticks	When
Ingot	2 × Wire	60	100	always

Block Die:

In	Out	E/t	Ticks	When
9 × Nugget	Ingot	60	60	always
9 × Gem	Storage block	60	120	always
9 × Ingot	Storage block	60	120	always

Other recipes

With the Plate Die, the Metal Former also cuts silicon boules into wafers for circuits:

In	Out	E/t	Ticks
Silicon Boule	8 × Silicon Wafer	60	160

Recipes from Create

With Create installed, the Metal Former also runs Create's pressing recipes with the Plate Die: 160 ticks at 60 E/t each. QNet's own recipes and those of data packs always win for the same input. The switch is features.integration.create (default true).

Energy and upgrades

The Metal Former takes energy on every side, from a Pipster cable, a generator next to it or any FE or Team Reborn Energy source. When the buffer holds less than one tick of the current run, the run waits and keeps its progress.

The three upgrade slots at the right edge take one kind each:

Upgrade	Up to	Effect per upgrade
Speed Upgrade	2	half the time, 2.8 times the power
Efficiency Upgrade	3	0.85 times the power
Parallel Upgrade	2	2, then 4 copies per run, 1.25 times the power per doubling on top

Upgrades count from the next run. The buffer and the maximum input grow by the same factor as the power. A parallel run only starts as many copies as the input slot holds and the output has room for.

Automation

• Pipes, hoppers and other mods can put items into the input slot from every side, but only items that a recipe of any die uses.
• Dies and upgrades can be inserted the same way; the die slot takes only dies, each upgrade slot only its own upgrade.
• Items can only be taken out of the output slot; the die stays in.
• When the output is full, the finished run waits until there is room.

Redstone

The R button in the top right corner switches the redstone mode: always runs, runs with a signal, or runs without a signal.

What the status line says

Status	Meaning
Insert a die	The die slot is empty.
Idle – waiting for inputs	No recipe of the inserted die fits the input (or the input is empty).
Running	A run is in progress.
Waiting for energy	The buffer is too low; the progress is kept.
Output full – take the products out	The product of the finished run does not fit.
Paused by redstone	The redstone mode stops the machine. A Grid Monitor that pauses machines shows the same text.

Building it

The Metal Former needs no components: iron ingots, a piston and an anvil.

Iron Ingot	Piston	Iron Ingot
Iron Ingot	Anvil	Iron Ingot	→ Metal Former
Iron Ingot	Iron Ingot	Iron Ingot

Each die is four iron ingots around a core that shows its shape: smooth stone slab (plate), stick (rod), flint (gear), string (wire), stone (block).

	Iron Ingot
Iron Ingot	Smooth Stone Slab	Iron Ingot	→ Plate Die
	Iron Ingot

When you break it, it keeps its energy and its redstone mode; items, the die, upgrades and the item of a running job drop.

In the world

While it runs, the ram strokes up and down and squeezes the item that lies flat on the die. Every stroke ends with a metallic clink and a few sparks. The inserted die shows as a label on the front of the die bed, and the machine gives off a little light.

Tip

One machine per die Swapping dies by hand gets tedious. Build one Metal Former per die you use often (plates, rods and gears of steel), each fed by its own pipe.