Aluminum is a type of metal in Fallout 4 that you can use to craft many things. However, it is needed most for weapons, armor, and structures. To find Aluminum, you will need to search for junk items containing it.
All Junk Items That Give You Aluminum in Fallout 4
Merchant shipments give you the most Aluminum out of all items. However, those can only be bought from certain NPCs. Since these are rare and costly to buy, it is better to seek out Aluminum from junk items. The junk items that contain Aluminum usually have the resource in their name, but not always. Keep an eye out for anything made of greyish metal, as those items are more likely to have Aluminum.
Pay attention to your carrying capacity while looting, as certain junk items can weigh you down a lot. You are always better off carrying many light items than a few heavy ones when collecting resources.
| Item | Amount of Aluminum | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Cake Pan | 3 | 0.5 |
| Surgical Tray | 3 | 0.5 |
| Sweeper | 3 | 4 |
| TV Dinner Tray | 3 | 0.5 |
| Alarm Clock | 2 | 1 |
| Aluminum Can | 2 | 0.1 |
| Aluminum Canister | 2 | 3 |
| Carlisle Typewriter | 2 | 5 |
| Coolant Cap | 2 | 1 |
| Hubcap | 2 | 3 |
| Inactive Distress Pulser | 2 | 5 |
| Tweezers | 1 | 0.2 |
| Applicator | 1 | 0.5 |
| Cauterizer | 1 | 0.5 |
| Sensor | 1 | 0.5 |
| Spanner | 1 | 0.5 |
| Toy Rocketship | 1 | 0.5 |
| Tri Tool | 1 | 0.5 |
| Ear Examiner | 1 | 0.7 |
| Aluminum Tray | 1 | 1 |
For better yields of Aluminum during each of your searches, you should seek out lighter junk items. The best junk items for getting Aluminum are Aluminum Cans, Cake Pans, Surgical Trays, and TV Dinner Trays. These items give you the most Aluminum per weight, so look for them while exploring!
The Best Locations to Find Aluminum in Fallout 4
There are a few merchants in Fallout 4 that will sell you raw shipments of Aluminum. However, these traders are not common. This means you will have to scavenge most of your Aluminum from junk items. Junk items containing Aluminum are all over the place, though, some spots have more than others.
- Diamond City Market – If you have more money than time, you should visit Arturo Rodriguez at Commonwealth Weaponry. This shop is located in the market area of Diamond City. You can buy a shipment of 50 raw Aluminum from Arturo for 750 caps.
- Goodneighbor – Rufus Rubins is a merchant working out of the Rexford Hotel. He will sell you shipments of 25 raw Aluminum for varying prices.
- Looting Aluminum From Sentry Bots and Assaultrons – These robotic enemies drop between 2 to 4 pieces of raw Aluminum when they are destroyed. They are tough to take down, but energy weapons are very effective against them.
- The Institute – You will find a lot of Aluminum inside of The Institute, as it has many metal items to loot. There are tons of medical tools and junk items lying around that you can easily pick up.
- Vault 95 – There are a bunch of Aluminum Cans, Aluminum Trays, as well as TV Dinner Trays in Vault 95. Due to its high number of light junk items, it is a great spot to find all kinds of metals.
- Fort Hagen Command Center – There is a high number of Aluminum Cans, Aluminum Trays, as well as TV Dinner Trays here as well. Fort Hagen is a big location with tons of junk to loot inside. Furthermore, in the western tunnel exiting this location, there are many junk items that contain Aluminum. It is quite dark in here, so bring a light of some kind to find all of the goods.
- Corvega Assembly Plant – In and around this location, you will find many Coolant Caps as well as Aluminum Cans. This makes up the bulk of the Aluminum here but there are more bits and pieces of metal as well.
- Mass Pike Tunnel – Many Aluminum Cans litter this location. As such, you will get a great haul of Aluminum when you visit this spot.
- Vault 81 – If you find the hidden section of this vault, you will also find a lot of Aluminum. This is because there are a lot of Surgical Trays that were left here following dark experiments.
- Federal Ration Stockpile – There are many Aluminum Cans on the shelves near the locked-off storage section. It won’t be considered stealing if you loot these, so go nuts.
- Four Leaf Fishpacking Plant – If you head to the west side of this factory’s interior, you can spot a ton of Aluminum Trays lying around.
- Medford Memorial Hospital – Hospitals are a great place to find Aluminum, as Surgical Trays in Fallout 4 are made of the stuff. Be sure to check every room for the best yield of this useful metal.
What Aluminum Is Used for in Fallout 4
The majority of crafting recipes that need Aluminum are explosives like grenades and mines, though there’s more. You will also need a lot of Aluminum for certain power armor upgrades as well as for settlement items. The latter tasks are very general and will need various amounts of Aluminum, but the explosives are more straightforward.
| Crafting Recipe | Ingredients |
|---|---|
| Cryo Mine | Acid x2 Adhesive x3 Aluminum x4 Circuitry x2 Nuclear material x2 |
| Cryogenic Grenade | Acid x3 Adhesive x3 Aluminum x3 Nuclear material x2 Spring x1 |
| Fragmentation Grenade | Adhesive x3 Aluminum x2 Fertilizer x2 Oil x3 Spring x1 |
| Fragmentation Mine | Adhesive x3 Aluminum x3 Fertilizer x3 Oil x3 Steel x2 |
| HalluciGen Gas Grenade | Adhesive x3 Aluminum x2 Fertilizer x1 Spring x1 |
| Plasma Grenade | Adhesive x4 Aluminum x4 Circuitry x2 Nuclear material x3 Spring x1 |
| Plasma Mine | Adhesive x4 Aluminum x5 Circuitry x3 Fiber optics x3 Nuclear material x3 |
| Pulse Grenade | Adhesive x4 Aluminum x3 Circuitry x1 Nuclear material x2 Spring x1 |
| Pulse Mine | Adhesive x4 Aluminum x4 Circuitry x3 Fiber optics x2 Nuclear material x3 |
| Persuasion Grenade (Needs Nuka-World DLC) | Adhesive x4 Aluminum x2 Fever blossom x4 Spring x1 |
| Predator Grenade (Needs Nuka-World DLC) | Adhesive x2 Aluminum x1 Cave cricket gland x1 Cloth x4 Fever blossom x1 Rad-rat meat x2 Spring x1 |