Craftmetal is Silksong’s scarce upgrade material: a finite resource you spend to build specific Tools that expand Hornet’s kit. If you’re just starting Hollow Knight: Silksong, you’ll meet it early — and you can also miss it just as quickly. Here’s where to pick up reliable pieces, additional spots players have confirmed later on, and what to craft first so you don’t regret the spend.

What Craftmetal does

Craftmetal unlocks certain Tools and utility items. You’ll use one piece at a time alongside Rosaries to craft or buy these from key characters and workstations. Early on, plan to bring Craftmetal to the Forge Daughter in Deep Docks; she offers foundational Tools and opens more options as you progress. Expect other vendors and regional workbenches to request a piece for one-off crafts later.

Examples of Craftmetal Tools include:

  • Sting Shard — an area-control throw
  • Magma Bell — mitigates heat hazards, useful in Deep Docks and similar zones
  • Cogwork Wheel — a forward-tracking sawblade
  • Scuttlebrace and Sawtooth Circlet — defensive/utility options
  • Silkshot — a situational projectile with multiple acquisition paths
Tip: Pieces are limited per playthrough. Treat each one like a boss reward — spend with intent.

Where to use Craftmetal (first stop: Forge Daughter)

  • Deep Docks: Find the Forge Daughter just past a bench; she appears after you clear a locked-room skirmish. Bring Rosaries and at least one Craftmetal to see her full offerings.

Early-game Craftmetal you can lock down

  • Moss Grotto (Bone Bottom shop): Pebb sells one Craftmetal for 60 Rosaries. It’s the most straightforward pickup and a good way to secure your first Tool.
  • The Marrow (explosive wall puzzle): In the upper-right stretch of The Marrow, look for a glowing rock embedded in a wall near flower buds. Strike it to reveal a hidden route. Carefully descend past spikes, trigger another explosive patch that chain-detonates the corridor, then strike the protruding Craftmetal vein to claim a piece.
  • Deep Docks (locked gate chest): Past a locked gate in Deep Docks — or via a hidden passage that connects from Far Fields — there’s a chest with a Craftmetal. You may need a Simple Key depending on your route.
  • Blasted Steps (hidden vein): In the upper-right portion of the region, a narrow, tucked-away passage leads to a secret room. The Craftmetal protrudes from the wall; break it free.

More confirmed locations as you push farther

Community findings suggest several additional pieces beyond the early four. Access often depends on keys, traversal abilities, or story state, so consider these “check when you’re nearby” targets:

  • Act I runback: During the approach to the act’s final boss, watch for a sinkhole in the worm-sand fields; dropping in yields a Craftmetal.
  • Underworks — The Cauldron: In a passage below the Harpoon upgrade area, a tucked-away route leads to a piece.
  • Deep Docks — Simple Key area: Behind a locked door that opens into a combat section, a chest at the bottom of the rightmost room (near the Far Fields route) holds a Craftmetal.
  • Putrid Ducts (far east): A late Act II pickup at the extreme right end of the area.
  • Wisp Thicket: Break a wall above two adjacent lanterns, then continue right to reach a piece.
Note: Some merchants later in the game may stock an additional Craftmetal. Check shops after major milestones.

What to craft first (and why)

Your first two pieces shape a lot of the early map. A practical sequence looks like this:

  • Magma Bell: If Deep Docks or other heat-heavy paths are next, this makes those routes safer and sometimes faster by softening environmental damage.
  • Sting Shard: Strong generalist pick for crowd control and area denial in both exploration and boss fights.

From there, slot in Cogwork Wheel for linear pressure, or a defensive utility like Sawtooth Circlet if your build leans into movement. If you find a regional workbench (e.g., in High Halls) that offers a unique construct for a single Craftmetal, weigh that against your planned vendor purchases — these benches often unlock tools you can’t simply buy elsewhere.

How to avoid walking past Craftmetal

  • Hit suspicious walls: Glowing rocks can chain-detonate hidden corridors, especially in The Marrow and industrial zones.
  • Revisit with new moves: Several pickups sit behind traversal checks. Mark likely breakable walls and return once you have the right tool or art.
  • Carry a Simple Key in Deep Docks: Multiple locked doors there and in connected regions gate chests and shortcuts.
  • Talk to merchants after big story beats: Inventories can expand; a later Craftmetal might quietly appear.

Planning around a finite supply

So far, Craftmetal appears in a small number of hand-placed spots rather than as a farmable drop. That’s by design: individual Tools materially change your options, and the game nudges you to specialize rather than buy everything at once. If you’re unsure, hold a piece until the next bench or vendor — the right Tool is often the one that opens your critical path.

Key takeaway: pick up the Bone Bottom shop piece, clear The Marrow’s explosive puzzle, and scout Deep Docks and Blasted Steps for early stability. After that, the Underworks / Putrid Ducts / Wisp Thicket finds round out your pool. Spend at the Forge Daughter when a Tool directly helps the area you’re tackling next, and you’ll rarely feel like you wasted a Craftmetal.