The furnace is one of the earliest stations you can buy in Probably Stolen and plays an integral role in your business. It can smelt metal scraps and metal ores and give you high-purity metal ingots, which you can sell for a high price. Today we are going to go over the Furnace and learn how to work with it optimally.
Table of Contents
How to Get a Furnace in Probably Stolen
Dr.Jackson pays you a visit on day 6, offering you the furnace with a sweet discount for the new customer (that is you). Buy your first furnace for a dirt-cheap 50 credits and start your journey down the path to the ingot industry.
How to Use the Furnace
The Furnace UI has 4: Battery used to power the furnace, Modules which will enhance or alter the features of the furnace. The input where you put the scraps and the ores. The output, where you will take the result of your (furnace’s) hard work.
Put a battery in, put a module in if you have one (optional), put in your scraps or ores, and sleep. You’ll wake up to a fresh ingot out of the furnace. If you want to know what modules are the best for /the furnace, read our guide on modules in Probably Stolen.
All Furnace Recipes and Metal Ingot Purity
To get ingots from your furnace, you can put your input in a variety of ways.
| Input Materials | Resulting Purity | With Flux |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Scrap Metal | Low | Fair |
| 1 Scrap Metal + 1 Metal Ore | Fair | High |
| 2 Metal Ore | High | Very High |
What is a flux, you ask?
Flux and Ingot Purity
Flux is an agent you can add alongside your inputs that increases the value and quality of the ingot coming out the other side. Here’s a table of what each level of purity is and what effect it has on the value of the ingot.
| Purity | Value Modifier | Calculated Value (Credits)* |
|---|---|---|
| Very Low | −25% | 37.50 |
| Low | −15% | 42.50 |
| Fair | 0% | 50 |
| High | +25% | 62.50 |
| Very High | +50% | 75 |
| Perfect | +200% | 150 |
Where to Get Scrap Metal, Metal Ore, and Flux
Now that we have gone over the basics of the furnace mechanics, let’s talk about the inputs.
Scrap Metal
Scrap metal can be found in three different ways. The first one is to manually go to the dumping grounds and scavenge for it.
Or you can smelt junk in the furnace to get scrap metal from it. If you want to learn more about junk, read our guide on junk in Probably Stolen.
Metal Ore
From time to time, events about the mining expedition happen, and miners come to your counter to sell you their items. But this is quite inconsistent.
The more consistent way is to order them in bulk from Caulson at the GP mining Coop. To get in contact with Caulson, you guessed it, you have to call Joe Wild and buy the contact from him for 250 credits.
Flux
Fluxes come in through many people, and you can never really go dry on them, but the most consistent sellers of Flux are the supplier and supply runners. Its base price is 4 credits for a simple flux and 300 for advanced flux.
What is the Difference Between Simple Flux and Advanced Flux?
Their main difference is in the fact that simple flux is consumed over the course of smelting, while the advanced flux is reusable. The insane markup from a 4-credit item to 300 credits indicates that you should use advanced flux only when you are in the business of bulk smelting and you have a constant stream of credits coming.
TL;DR: Don’t waste your credits on an advanced flux early on, and only buy one when your smelting business is on the rise.
Furnace Modules and Upgrades
There are two special modules for the furnace that you can put into the slots to change the way the furnace behaves and enhance its output.
| Module | Listed Value | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Furnace Module (Blast) | 150 Credits | 3 metal inputs → 2 ingots |
| Furnace Module (Junk Processing) | 120 Credits | 6 Junk → 4 Scrap Metal |
| Quality Module | 70 Credits base | Improves ingot purity |
| Efficiency Module | 70 Credits base | Reduces energy consumption |
| Performance Module | 70 Credits base | No smelting-speed benefit |
Furnace Module (Blast)
The Blast Furnace will allow you to smelt 3 iron scraps into 2 ingots (as opposed to 4 scraps to 2 ingots), with the purity and quality of the ingots being the trade-off. You can try to reduce this trade-off by putting other quality-enhancing modules or adding flux to the input.
Furnace Module (Junk Processing)
By installing this module, you can turn your junk into metal scraps. The furnace will still prioritize the metal scraps or ores over the junk and won’t recycle the junk if scraps or ores are put into the output section of the furnace.
The module will allow you to put in 6 junks and receive 4 scraps in return.
If you want to know about the rest of the modules and their uses, go to our article about modules in Probably Stolen.
Best Furnace Setup for Making Money
The best way to make money with the furnace is to smelt as many ingots with the highest purity possible. But that is the ideal end-game situation. I’m going to give you an early-game and a late-game strategy.
Cheap Early-Game Smelting
The easiest way to get a good enough product to sell and come out on top at the end of it all, making a profit, is to put in scrap metal with flux to get ingots. This will give you a fair-quality ingot, which isn’t the best you can get, but gives you a nice income till you get off the ground and have more of a spending budget.
| Component | Credits |
|---|---|
| 2 Scrap Metal | 20 |
| Basic Flux | 4 |
| Fair-purity ingot value | 50 |
| Gross value difference | +26 |
Mid-Game Higher-Value Ingots
Transition into ore smelting by the mid-game, as it will give you a higher margin of profit. Adding a flux is always advised, as it will cover its own costs.
| Component | Credits |
|---|---|
| 2 Metal Ore | 30 |
| Basic Flux | 4 |
| Very High-purity ingot value | 75 |
| Gross value difference | +41 |
End-Game Production Line
You can go to the blast furnace if you find the ingot-selling business the choice to focus on. Order in bulk, put in a flux plus quality-increasing modules to counter it and make a great profit.
| Component | Credits |
|---|---|
| 3 Metal Ore | 45 |
| Basic Flux | 4 |
| 2 Very High-purity ingot value | 150 |
| Gross value difference | +101 |
In order to make an advanced flux profitable, you need to smelt 9 metal ores in each run to get 6 very high-purity ingots. This way, you’d get 15 credits of gross value difference. That’s the minimum. Do the math and see whether you can increase your output to beat the mid-game strategy and make the advanced flux viable.
FAQ
My Furnace Isn’t Processing Junk.
Make sure there aren’t any metals in the furnace; they take priority
Flux Doesn’t Produce An Ingot
Flux is an additive that is optional. It will not produce anything alone
My Blast Furnace Doesn’t Process
Remember that you need to put extra material in when you put the blast module in, from 2 to 3.
