How to Unlock the Formulation Bench in Graveyard Keeper 2 — Teeth, Paper Glop and Embalming

Which technology unlocks it?

You need Church Lighting I. It costs 5 red, 10 green and 5 blue tech points and follows early church progression.

That technology unlocks:

• early church lighting;
• candle-related progression;
• the Formulation Bench itself.

There is no separate technology node simply called “Formulation Bench.”

It is bundled into Church Lighting.

Where can it be built?

Once unlocked, the bench belongs to specialized indoor zones:

• the tower laboratory;
• the writing room/basement beneath your house.

If you are standing in the yard and checking a general construction menu, you will not see it there.

GK2 strongly restricts many workstations by zone:

• Distillation Cube → tower laboratory;
• Jewelry Table → writing room;
• Formulation Bench → laboratory or writing room.

That placement system is responsible for many “I unlocked it, where is it?” questions.

What does it cost?

The base build requires materials including:

• Wooden Planks;
• Bronze Details;
• Polished Bronze.

So you may unlock the technology slightly before you can comfortably build the workstation.

If Polished Bronze is the blocker, see How to Get Polished Bronze.

For Bronze Detail, use Why Can't I Craft Bronze Detail?.

Formulation Bench vs Laboratory

They perform different kinds of alchemy.

Laboratory

You combine researched ingredients by their RGB rune values to discover or craft formulas such as potions, Dream Dust, Paint and Reanimation Liquid.

Formulation Bench

You select a fixed recipe with fixed materials:

• fertilizers;
• candles;
• incense;
• Paper Glop;
• embalming items;
• Teeth;
• later organ-improvement work.

Think of the Laboratory as “solve a rune formula” and the Formulation Bench as a normal crafting station.

For the rune system, see Graveyard Keeper 2 Alchemy Guide.

How to get Teeth

This is one of the most common reasons players start looking for the bench.

First, unlock the corpse technology that lets you obtain a Skull and exposes the Teeth recipe.

Then:

1. 1

   obtain a Skull;

2. 2

   take it to the Formulation Bench;

3. 3

   select the Teeth recipe;

4. 4

   with Anatomy Mastery 1, process the Skull into a Tooth.

Do not search the Autopsy Table for a normal “remove Teeth” operation.

The chain is:

corpse → Skull → Formulation Bench → Teeth

That is why you can already know how to remove a Skull and still be completely stuck on the Teeth requirement.

Why is the Teeth recipe missing?

There are two separate unlocks to verify:

1. 1

   the bench itself from Church Lighting I;

2. 2

   the Anatomy technology related to Skull and Teeth.

You can build the workstation and still have no Teeth recipe if the recipe technology has not been purchased.

The Dentist Inspiration

Making Teeth also contributes to the Anatomy Dentist Inspiration.

So this is not just a one-off quest recipe.

It feeds long-term Anatomy progression and makes the workstation relevant beyond the first time a character asks for Teeth.

Paper Glop and why this bench matters for paper

Bulk Clean Paper does not begin by placing Flax directly into the Paper Press.

First you create Paper Glop on the Formulation Bench.

The efficient chain is:

Water + Flax
      ↓
Formulation Bench
      ↓
Paper Glop
      ↓
Paper Press
      ↓
Clean Paper

If you already built the Paper Press but cannot figure out its input material, this is the missing step.

See How to Make Paper.

Candles and church progression

Church Lighting I unlocks this workstation for a reason.

The Formulation Bench crafts candle-related items used by church lighting.

One technology therefore simultaneously improves church infrastructure and opens important writing, alchemy and corpse-production chains.

It is a much more important technology than its name suggests.

Fertilizers

The Formulation Bench also becomes central to fertilizer production.

As farming begins to care about output, crop quality, growth and reliable ingredient production, you will return to this station repeatedly.

Do not build it in an awkward corner only because you currently need one set of Teeth.

Embalming and corpse solutions

Later recipes include corpse-treatment products:

• solutions;
• injections;
• embalming materials;
• organ-improvement support.

This connects the station directly to high-quality burial corpses and powerful zombie bodies.

If skull values are still confusing, see Red and White Skulls Explained.

I have Organ Improver. Why is there no organ recipe?

You can obtain an Organ Improver and assume the bench should immediately show an upgrade recipe.

The actual organ-upgrade operations have later technology requirements.

Owning the consumable does not automatically unlock its use.

If the recipe is absent:

• check your technologies;
• make sure the relevant organ is properly researched;
• do not move to the Embalming Table just because the item affects organs.

Where should you build it?

Both allowed locations work.

Writing room

Convenient near the Writing Desk, Paper Press and paper storage.

Tower laboratory

Convenient near the Laboratory, Distillation Cube and alchemy storage.

Choose based on which production chain you want to keep compact.

Can a zombie use the Formulation Bench?

The bench can participate in developed zombie automation.

Normal zombie rules still apply:

• the worker must meet the recipe requirement;
• its own Mastery matters;
• ingredients need to be available;
• supply and storage need to function.

If a worker is assigned but the recipe never starts, see How Zombies Work.

FAQ

Why isn't the Formulation Bench in Alchemy technologies?

Because the building itself is unlocked by Church Lighting I in Theology.

Where can I build it?

In the tower laboratory or the writing room beneath your house.

Where are Teeth made?

At the Formulation Bench from a Skull once the relevant recipe is unlocked.

Why do I have the bench but no Teeth recipe?

The workstation and the Teeth recipe come from separate technologies.

Is the Formulation Bench the same as the Laboratory?

No. The Laboratory mixes rune formulas; the Formulation Bench runs fixed crafting recipes.

Where is Paper Glop made?

At the Formulation Bench.