The crafting stations also require ingots.

The casual solution is to go mining, grab enough metal to max out a boat, and sail the entire boat back to your main base. It's easy to build a first base close to a black forest, but every metal after that wants a dedicated boat trip.

It is possible to cheese the portals by hiding your ingots in another world. Drop the ingots in the 2nd world, do all the portal stuff in the first world, and grab the ingots again. It's faster than sailing for sure, but boating with a load of valuables is a fun way to stress your nerves.