Follow Milo’s refining introduction, make a Refining Station and place it at home to process raw materials. If you searched for a “processing station,” this is the station named in the published opening walkthrough. It prepares components; the Project Station is where you use many of them to make equipment.
Follow the introduction before building ahead
The glider progression brings Cliff and Milo into the route before the final travel tool is ready. Follow the current gathering objective, return when requested and inspect the station recipe you have actually unlocked.
The October crafting reference lists the base station with five Screws and three Scrap Wire and marks it as quest-linked. Treat that as a historical recipe reference, not our test of every Early Access build. Your current crafting panel determines the required materials and energy.
Crafting a station, placing it and finishing its quest conversation are separate actions. If the objective still asks for one of them, do that step rather than repeatedly gathering the same inputs.
Choose the right raw-to-refined chain
The launch introduction processes Metal Plate, Plank, Straw and Rubber. The older recipe reference identifies their raw inputs as Metal Scraps, Scrap Wood, Plant Fiber and Tires respectively. Match the exact output your final recipe asks for before beginning a job.
| Desired component | Raw input to check |
|---|---|
| Metal Plate | Metal Scraps |
| Plank | Scrap Wood |
| Straw | Plant Fiber |
| Rubber | Tires |
A raw material and its refined component do not satisfy the same ingredient line. The dedicated Straw guide explains one complete conversion; Mushroom Leather connects processing to the first battery upgrade.
Complete processing before the final craft
Start the appropriate job, follow the station’s completion interface and verify the resulting items. Then return to the equipment recipe. Starting a job is not proof that the output is already available, and selecting an equipment blueprint does not automatically perform its missing refining steps.
Check charge again after processing. A gathering trip can prepare all your raw materials while leaving too little energy for the final item. Use the battery guide to distinguish an empty battery from a maximum-capacity limit.
Keep later station upgrades separate
Later published tool routes use refined Copper Bar and Flexible Lumber. The tool blueprint, production-station level, ingredient preparation and actual craft remain separate checks. See research stations for the donation workflow and Pruners for the upgrade context.
This page does not guess a specific later research payout from conflicting upgrade summaries. Read the reward and station requirement displayed in your build. Receiving a blueprint does not itself produce the upgraded station or its components.
Sources and version notes
Reviewed November 6, 2026. The route follows the launch walkthrough; the ingredient pairings and base-station quantities are a dated October reference. Exact current timers, later-tier reward conflicts and untested output bonuses are not presented as confirmed mechanics.