Every station, the tools it needs, and where to find the parts
The Toolbox is your first station, and most other stations are crafted from it. It takes 8 rope (woven from grass), 10 wood, and 6 nails (from breaking down wooden fences and chairs). Slot hand tools into it — a screwdriver and pliers to begin with — to unlock its recipes.
Most stations only work with specific tools placed inside, including the ones at trader compounds. This is the single most common "why can't I craft this" moment in Rebirth.
| Station | What it's for | Needs / how to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Toolbox | Your first station; crafts most others | Screwdriver, pliers, and other hand tools slotted in |
| Workbench | Guns, tools, weapons, advanced stations | Mostly a Screwdriver (by far the most common requirement); a few recipes want Hammer and Pliers |
| Forge | Smelting and forged materials; later, nails and screws | An anvil. It shuts off automatically when its queue finishes, saving fuel |
| Table Saw | Wood crafting | A saw blade |
| Shredder | Turns brass items into scrap brass | A propane tank |
| Munitions Workbench (Munitions Work Station) | Ammunition | Pliers. Spawns randomly in the world |
| Ammo Assembly Station | 9mm, .44, 7.62, shotgun, 40mm, and turret ammo | No tool needed. A separate mission reward |
| Stitch and Salvage Bench | Learning and crafting armor | Crafting armor also needs the Armor Codex tool. See Gear & Armor |
| Integration Workbench | Adding and rerolling armor bonuses (new in 2.6) | The kits are crafted at a Workbench. See Gear & Armor |
| Recycling Station | Breaks items into multiple components | A Lead Car Battery, drained as you use it. Only at traders |
| Alchemy Table | Witch Doctor items and companions | A Beaker, plus Hammer and Pliers; blueprint from a Class Trainer |
| Iron Oven | Cooking | A Toolbox recipe once you have it. The blueprint comes from a level 30 farming mission |
| Gas Stovetop | Cooking | A Toolbox recipe. The blueprint mission is level 10 |
| Concrete Mixer | Concrete mix, including explosion-resistant mix | A car battery, drained as you use it. Blueprint mission at level 30 |
| Chemistry Station | Medicines and chemicals, including Prussian Blue | Blueprint mission at level 30 |
| Research Table | Blueprints for the class and perk auras | A Fountain Pen. Blueprint mission at level 30 |
| Battery, generator, and solar banks | Power | See the crafting menu; also a wood-burning stove for heat and cooking |
| Distiller | Clean water | Mission from level 20 |
| Mortar and Pestle | Powders, including explosion-resistant bone powder | The schematic comes from a mission. Once learned, it is a Toolbox recipe (2 large rocks) |
The author's advice: think about where the thing would really be. A grill has a propane tank; an appliance has a motor.
| You need | Look in |
|---|---|
| Hammers, pliers, screwdrivers | Toolboxes and shelves in garages, basements, and workshops |
| Saw blades | Table saws |
| Small motors | Washing machines (often two per house) and air-conditioning units |
| Nails and screws | Anything wooden: doors, couches, pallets, chairs, fences |
| Stove burners | Stoves (sometimes with a cooking pot too) |
| Paper and polymer | Boxes in houses |
| Propane tanks | Gas grills (luck-dependent), or buy one from the Desert trader's handywoman |
| Brass | Door knobs from wooden doors, wall radiators (just press E), air-conditioning units, and lights. Put them in a shredder |
Your ability to craft higher-quality tools rises by using that kind of tool: mining for mining tools, chopping for chopping tools, and the same for digging and salvage tools. The crafting skills tab tracks each one, along with class fragment progress and weapon tiers.
Salvaging is a main source of components for crafting, upgrades, and repairs, and it is one of three ways to raise Intelligence (learning schematics and looting are the others). Get a wrench early.