Factory Ratios
The starter production ratios on one page: ingots, wire, plates, screws, and reinforced iron plates, plus how to count machines and when to manifold.
At a glance
| The formula | Machine count = desired output rate divided by recipe output per machine. |
| The headache | Many recipes have fractional ratios (like 60/45 = 1.333), so clean lines need overclocking or a manifold that ramps to balance. |
| The starter goal | An iron line that feeds plates, rods, and screws into Reinforced Iron Plates, then Smart Plating for Space Elevator Phase 1. |
| Feed style | Manifold for main lines, balancer where you need every machine full from the first second. |
These ratios come straight from the wiki and are safe to build to. Throughput numbers above the basics (belt and pipe speeds per tier) were not pinned down in research, so check the wiki before relying on exact m/min.
Foundational ratios
| Part | Building | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Ingot | Smelter | 30 Copper Ore/min | 30 Copper Ingot/min |
| Wire | Constructor | 15 Copper Ingot/min | 30 Wire/min |
| Iron Plate | Constructor | 45 Iron Ingot/min | 30 Iron Plate/min |
| Screw | Constructor | 15 Iron Rod/min | 60 Screw/min |
| Reinforced Iron Plate | Assembler | 30 Iron Plate/min + 60 Screw/min | per recipe |
Each Iron Plate needs 1.5 Iron Ingots. Each Iron Rod makes 4 Screws. Concrete from Limestone is a classic fractional case: 60 Limestone supports about 1.33 constructors (60/45).
The starter iron chain
The numbers above chain into the standard first build:
- Iron line smelts ore into ingots.
- Ingots split to Iron Plates and Iron Rods.
- Rods feed the screw constructors.
- Plates plus screws feed the Reinforced Iron Plate assemblers.
- Reinforced Iron Plates plus Rotors feed Smart Plating, the Phase 1 deliverable.
Manifold or balancer
| Manifold | Balancer | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Splitters in a line tapping a single belt down a row of machines | A splitter tree dividing flow into equal parts |
| Ramp | Fills and ramps to full throughput over time | Every machine runs at full rate immediately |
| Best for | Most main lines, easy to expand | Compact perfect-ratio builds, instant full output |
Many factories use both: manifolds for the main lines, balancers where exact ratios matter.
Do this in order
- Place the miner on your iron node and a smelter row for ingots.
- Split the ingot belt to Iron Plate and Iron Rod constructors.
- Run the rods into screw constructors.
- Feed plates plus screws into Reinforced Iron Plate assemblers via a manifold.
- Add Rotors and assemble Smart Plating for Space Elevator Phase 1.
- Once you have the Blueprint Designer (Tier 4), tune one clean module and stamp copies to scale.
Watch out for
- Fractional ratios. A line that “should” be clean often needs an overclock, an underclock, or a manifold to settle.
- Overproducing Space Elevator parts. Later phases re-consume earlier parts, so build steady supply, not a stockpile.
- Belts backing up. Send the overflow to the AWESOME Sink so a full buffer does not stall the line.
Related: Tiers and Space Elevator Phases for what each ratio is building toward, and Logistics: Belts, Splitters, and Manifolds for the feed patterns in detail.