Screw

"This, like Mrs. Parks, is what’s keeping everything together."

- Caterina Parks's assistant Steve

Screws are basic crafting components made from Iron Rods.

Alternate recipes analysis
The following shows different ways to produce 1 Screw / second, or 60 / min:
 * Weighted Point is the weighted consumption rate which is calculated by: . The lower the better.
 * Energy per item can be used to measure how much power is consumed for the entire production chain. The lower the better.
 * Space refers to building space, excluding belts and pipes. The lower the better.
 * Among multiple ways to produce each of the ingredient, the recipe with the lowest WP is chosen. See also:
 * Iron Ingot
 * Steel Ingot

- "I hate Screws, but this is a recipe even I would cast my eyes on."
 * If you are in need of Screws but don't have the space for machines, Cast Screw can be of assistance. It has the same efficiency as the normal recipe, but does 2 steps in one. This is one of the few recipes than can be seen as an upgrade to the normal route, if you use Iron Ingots that is.

- "Screws but in compressed form. It's not free, but still quite the steel."
 * Want a lot of screws FAST? Don't have enough power or space for all those Constructors? Steel Screw could be just the thing for you. While it requires production of Steel Beams and is thus more coal-intensive, the recipe is incredibly compact and power-efficient. Just three Steel Screw Constructors are able to fill a Mk.5 belt completely.

Other methods
Screws can also be found around from Crash Sites.

Tips

 * The most resource-efficient way to make Screws from Iron Ingots is converting them to Steel Ingots using the Solid Steel Ingot alternate recipe, processing those to Iron Rods using the Steel Rod alternate recipe, and finally producing screws using the default recipe, having an efficiency of 24 screws per Iron Ingot or 16 per Steel Ingot.
 * If the steel is used to make Steel Beams instead, only 13 Screws per Steel Ingot are made, however, the recipe is far more space and power-efficient.
 * Making 780 Screws per minute from steel requires 23 Constructors using the Steel Rod setup, but only 4 with the Steel Screw setup.
 * As one of the low-compression items, transporting them to the next machine that requires them can be a challenge during the early game, due to the relatively low throughput of the conveyor and high Screw consumption rate. Even late-game their low compression can present problems as the high demand of certain processes can easily overwhelm the capacity of a single Mk. 5 belt: for example, a line with more than 7 Assemblers making Rotors will require two inputs.

Eliminating Screws
By finding the right alternative recipes, it is possible to completely eliminate Screws from normal production lines.

Trivia

 * The screws shown in the item's mesh do not have threads or tapered ends, so they would not work as screws. Instead, they look more like rivets or machinery pins.
 * The official explanation is that the box is a big bucket and contains at least one or two screws.
 * Although it appears as a box of screws, it is only counted as one item.
 * 27 Screws are used in Drop Pods.

History

 * Unknown patch between Patch 0.3 and Patch 0.3.3.3: Mesh and icon changed