Steel & Smeltflare

Steel is the gateway material for all of UtilityCraft. It is manufactured, not mined — no steel ore spawns in the world.

Crafting Chain

Step 1 — smeltflare (vanilla crafting table, shapeless)

2× paper + coal + flint  →  8× smeltflare

Smeltflare is a catalyst/fuel item used in the steel chain. Stock up — you need it twice in the full process.

Step 2 — raw_steel (vanilla crafting table, shapeless)

coal + raw_iron + smeltflare  →  raw_steel

Step 3 — steel_ingot (two options)

Option A — Furnace/blast furnace:

raw_steel  →  smelt  →  steel_ingot

Option B — Crafting table shortcut (shapeless):

smeltflare + raw_steel  →  steel_ingot

This skips the furnace entirely, consuming a second smeltflare.

Step 4 — steel_block (vanilla crafting table)

9× steel_ingot  →  steel_block  (standard 3×3 compression)

Usage

Steel ingots and blocks are used throughout the mod:

  • UC Workbench build recipe
  • Machine Case
  • Chips — chip recipe uses steel_ingot
  • Crusher and Infuser build recipes
  • Generator builds (all tiers)
  • Hammer recipes
  • Plates (via Electro Press, required for advanced+ tier upgrades)

Notes

  • You can chain-produce: make a batch of smeltflare, use half for raw_steel, use the other half to skip furnace smelting
  • The smeltflare shortcut is useful early-game when fuel or furnace access is limited