The Metal Blade is the component behind every salvaged tool in Rust. The Salvaged Axe and Salvaged Icepick need five each, the Chainsaw needs six, and the Longsword, Metal Barricade, Salvaged Sword and even the kayak Paddle all need at least one. If you want to farm faster than a stone hatchet, you need blades.
This metal blade Rust guide covers what the blade is, how to craft and research it, every place to find it with real drop chances, every item that uses it, what it recycles into at each recycler, and whether you should craft, keep or recycle one. All numbers come from the current game item files and the Facepunch Rust Wiki loot tables, checked in October 2026.
- What It Is
- How to Craft
- Where to Find
- What Uses Blades
- Recycle Value
- Craft, Loot or Recycle?
- Tips
- FAQ
What Is a Metal Blade in Rust?
The Metal Blade is a component, the same family as gears, metal pipes and the metal spring. Its in-game description says it all: a metal blade for making melee weapons. You cannot use it on its own. It only goes into a recipe or into a recycler.
Where springs gate your guns, blades gate your farming. The Salvaged Axe and Salvaged Icepick are the fastest craftable hand tools in the game, and the Chainsaw beats both on trees. All three are blade-heavy. A fresh spawn who finds ten blades on wipe day and a metal pipe can make the full salvaged tool kit before most of the server has a pickaxe.
| Stat | Metal Blade |
|---|---|
| Shortname / ID | metalblade / 1882709339 |
| Category | Component (rarity: Uncommon) |
| Stack size | 20 |
| Despawn | 20 minutes on the ground |
| Craft cost | 30 metal fragments + 10 scrap, Workbench 2 |
| Craft time | 1 second |
| Blueprint | 40 scrap at a research table |
| Recycle (powered monument) | 18 metal fragments, 2 scrap, 40% chance of a 3rd scrap |
| Recycle (safe zone) | 12 metal fragments, 1 scrap, 60% chance of a 2nd |
How to Craft a Metal Blade
The Metal Blade has a simple recipe and no HQM in it:
- Recipe: 30 metal fragments + 10 scrap for one blade.
- Workbench: Workbench Level 2 or 3. You cannot craft it at a Workbench 1.
- Craft time: 1 second.
- Blueprint: it is not known by default. Put a blade in a research table with 40 scrap, or unlock it on the Workbench 2 branch of the tech tree for 1 blueprint per node tier price.
The scrap adds up quickly once you look at what you are building. This is the cost of crafting every blade yourself for each recipe, worked out from the game files:
| Item | Blades | Blade cost if crafted | Rest of the recipe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chainsaw | 6 | 60 scrap + 180 frags | 5 HQM + 2 gears, WB2 |
| Salvaged Axe | 5 | 50 scrap + 150 frags | 1 metal pipe, WB2 |
| Salvaged Icepick | 5 | 50 scrap + 150 frags | 1 metal pipe, WB2 |
| Longsword | 2 | 20 scrap + 60 frags | 100 metal fragments, WB2 |
| Metal Barricade | 2 | 20 scrap + 60 frags | 200 metal fragments, WB2 |
| Salvaged Sword | 1 | 10 scrap + 30 frags | 15 metal fragments, WB1 |
| Paddle | 1 | 10 scrap + 30 frags | 200 wood + 15 metal fragments, no workbench |
A full salvaged tool kit (axe plus icepick) is 10 blades, which is 100 scrap and 300 metal fragments if you craft them all. That is more than the two tool blueprints cost together. So crafting blades is a top-up: you do it when you are one or two short, not as your main source. Our Rust crafting calculator totals the full cost of any of these items.
Where to Find Metal Blades
These are the drop chances from the Facepunch Rust Wiki loot tables. Each number is the chance per container or per kill.
| Source | Chance | Amount | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underwater advanced crate | 62.8% | 1 to 3 | Sea floor and Underwater Labs |
| Underwater basic crate | 38.2% | 1 | Sea floor |
| Tunnel Dweller / Underwater Lab Dweller | 28.5% | 1 to 2 | Train tunnels, underwater labs |
| Blue and yellow barrels | 15.4% | 1 | Roads and monuments |
| Scarecrows (Halloween event only) | 39.6% | 1 to 3 | Night spawns and the Halloween dungeons |
| Gingerbread dungeons (Christmas event only) | 39.6% | 1 to 3 | Rustmas dungeon portals |
| Recycling a dead Jackhammer | 100% | 3 (2 at a safe zone) | Any recycler |
| Recycling a Metal Barricade | 100% | 1, plus 20% for a 2nd | Monument recycler |
Two things surprise players here. First, blades are not in brown crates, military crates, elite crates or tool boxes at all, so crate runs at monuments will not find them. Second, barrels are a far better source than they look: at 15.4% per barrel, roughly one barrel in seven drops a blade, and a road run on wipe day breaks dozens. See our Rust loot tables for everything else barrels and crates drop.
What Uses Metal Blades
Seven craftable items use blades. From the game recipe files:
- Chainsaw: 6 blades, 5 HQM and 2 gears at a Workbench 2. The fastest way to cut trees, but it runs on low grade fuel.
- Salvaged Axe: 5 blades and 1 metal pipe at a Workbench 2. The best non-fuel tree tool.
- Salvaged Icepick: 5 blades and 1 metal pipe at a Workbench 2. The best non-fuel ore tool, see our stone node guide and metal ore guide.
- Longsword: 2 blades and 100 metal fragments at a Workbench 2.
- Metal Barricade: 2 blades and 200 metal fragments at a Workbench 2. The strongest barricade at 600 HP.
- Salvaged Sword: 1 blade and 15 metal fragments at a Workbench 1.
- Paddle: 1 blade, 200 wood and 15 metal fragments with no workbench. You need it to move a kayak, see our Rust boats guide.
The Jackhammer also has 5 blades in its recipe, but it is loot only. That hidden recipe is why a dead jackhammer recycles into 3 blades. The Salvaged Hammer, Salvaged Cleaver, Mace and Machete do not use blades.
Metal Blade Recycle Value
Since the August 2026 Power Trip update, recycler output depends on where you recycle. One blade gives:
| Recycler | Efficiency | Metal fragments | Scrap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red recycler (Power Plant, fully fused) | 75% | 22, 50% chance of 23 | 3 |
| Green monument recycler, Power Plant powered | 60% | 18 | 2, 40% chance of a 3rd |
| Green monument recycler, Power Plant off | 50% | 15 | 2 |
| Safe zone recycler (Outpost, Bandit Camp) | 40% | 12 | 1, 60% chance of a 2nd |
A blade never gives high quality metal. It is one of the worst components in the recycler, next to the empty propane tank, so do not carry blades across the map just to recycle them.
Craft, Loot or Recycle?
- Crafting one blade costs 10 scrap and 30 metal fragments.
- Recycling one blade at a powered monument gives back about 2.4 scrap and 18 fragments.
- So recycling a blade and crafting it again later loses about 7.6 scrap and 12 fragments every time.
Keep blades until you have the tools you want: 10 for an axe and icepick, 6 more for a chainsaw. A stack of 20 is a full tool kit with a spare. After that, extra blades are fine to recycle on site, but never worth an inventory slot on a long loot run. Our components guide ranks every component the same way.
Metal Blade Tips
- Plan the tool kit. Salvaged Axe plus Salvaged Icepick is 10 blades and 2 metal pipes. Collect the blades on wipe day, then the pipes are all you wait on.
- Break every barrel on the road. One in about seven drops a blade, and each barrel also gives 2 scrap.
- Dive for crates. With a diving mask and tank, underwater advanced crates drop 1 to 3 blades at 62.8%, the best odds in the game.
- Run the train tunnels. Tunnel Dwellers drop 1 to 2 blades at 28.5%, and the tunnel wagons add more loot on the way.
- Recycle dead jackhammers. A broken jackhammer gives 36 scrap, 3 blades and a chance at a metal pipe at a powered monument recycler.
- Check the wipe. Every blade you stockpile is gone on the next map wipe, and the blueprint goes on a BP wipe. See when the next Rust force wipe is before you hoard.
Metal Blade Rust FAQ
Can you craft metal blades in Rust?
Yes. You can craft a metal blade at a Workbench Level 2 or 3 from 30 metal fragments and 10 scrap. The craft takes 1 second, but you need the blueprint first, which costs 40 scrap at a research table or on the tech tree.
Where do you find metal blades in Rust?
The best sources are underwater advanced crates (62.8%, 1 to 3 blades), underwater basic crates (38.2%), Tunnel and Underwater Lab Dwellers (28.5%) and blue or yellow barrels (15.4%). Scarecrows also drop them during the Halloween event, and a dead jackhammer recycles into 3.
Do metal blades drop from crates in Rust?
Not from normal land crates. Brown crates, military crates, elite crates and tool boxes do not drop metal blades. Only the underwater basic and advanced crates do, along with barrels and dwellers.
How many metal blades for a salvaged icepick?
A Salvaged Icepick needs 5 metal blades and 1 metal pipe at a Workbench Level 2. The Salvaged Axe uses the same recipe, so a full set is 10 blades and 2 pipes.
What do metal blades recycle into?
A powered green monument recycler gives 18 metal fragments and 2 scrap, with a 40% chance of a third scrap. A safe zone recycler gives 12 fragments and 1 to 2 scrap, and the red Power Plant recycler gives 22 to 23 fragments and 3 scrap. Blades never give high quality metal.
What uses metal blades in Rust?
The Chainsaw needs 6, the Salvaged Axe and Salvaged Icepick 5 each, the Longsword and Metal Barricade 2 each, and the Salvaged Sword and Paddle 1 each. The loot-only Jackhammer also has 5 in its recipe.
What is the metal blade stack size in Rust?
Metal blades stack to 20 in one inventory slot. Dropped blades despawn after 20 minutes.
Should I recycle metal blades?
Only once you have the tools you need. Crafting a blade costs 10 scrap and 30 metal fragments, but recycling one gives back only about 2 scrap and 18 fragments, so keep at least 10 for a salvaged axe and icepick.