Mechanical power

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The mechanical work horse is the path to prosperity.

Mechanical power can be used to mechanize some simple machines. Currently, wind power can be used to automate querns for milling, helve hammers to work iron blooms and form ingots or smith metal plates, as well as pulverizers to smash materials into their powdered form. Of the above mentioned, only the quern can be used independently without mechanical power, the other machines require a power source like the windmill to function.

On a technical level, windspeed varies from region to region and is linearly interpolated between the 4 nearest weather regions, for a given block location. Windspeed will increase by 1% per block above sea level. Conversely, wind speeds below sealevel is reduced 50% at 4 blocks below and 66% at 8 blocks below, rapidly decreasing towards 100% reduction.

Windmill Required Materials

To create a windmill, a player needs

  • Windmill rotor (1)
  • Sails (one set = 4 sails. Full sails = 20 or 5 sets)
  • Wooden Axles (Varies)
  • Angled Gears (Varies)



Resin

Copper hammer

Copper Chisel

Log (Oak)


Fat

Windmill Rotor




Log (Oak)

Log (Oak)




Stick

Stick

Normal stitched linen

Stick

Normal stitched linen

Sail

Sail

Sail


Stick

Stick

Stick

Stick

Normal stitched linen

Normal stitched linen

Stick

Stick

Normal stitched linen

Normal stitched linen


Copper hammer

Copper Chisel

Log (Oak)


Fat


Wooden Axle







Copper hammer

Stick

Resin

Copper Saw

Copper Chisel

Log (Oak)

Stick

Fat

Angled Gears







Building the Windmill

The windmill requires at least 5 blocks of vertical space between the rotor and the ground or any other solid block to accommodate a full complement of sails.

  • Rotor: The rotor should be placed on a tower or the side of a tall building. When building, it may be simpler to place the first axle on the top of the block and attach the rotor to the placed axle. This placement will suspend the rotor empty blocks outside the building. This space is required to attach the sails.
  • Sails: Sails are added to the rotor in sets of four (one for each windmill blade). Each set of sails will increase the power output by 25% and require one full block clearance (per set). If the sails do not have space to move freely, they will break. Axles or angled gears can be attached to the opposite side of the windmill rotor.
  • Power Train: The internal system construction (from the rotor to the machine) can vary depending on space, practical considerations and player ingenuity. Power trains are constructed using assemblies of axles and gears. General rules for trains with specific machines will be provided below, but longer trains lose power.
  • Wooden Axles are used to transmit power in a straight line. These may be placed vertically or horizontally in any of the cardinal directions.
  • Angled Gears are used to introduce a right angle turn in a train along any axis.

One important point to know is that trains must be assembled in order. That is, blocks must be placed in a continuous fashion from start to finish. When the gears and axles are turning, all is well. If the assembled train does not accomplish the intended goal, break the gears and axles, and reassemble the train from the rotor to the input block.

Power Control

  • Brake can be used to stop to incur a lot of resistance to the power train in order to bring it to a halt
  • Clutch + Transmission when placed together can be used to interrupt flow of mechanical power.

Milling

For mechanized milling, the windmill is attached to a quern. With a full complement of sails, the quern will grind materials at wind speeds as low as 25%. Mechanized or not, querns enable the player to grind grain, as well as some minerals into their powdered forms.

Materials required for automated milling

  • Quern
  • Hopper: (optional) used for material input/output. Crafted directly from copper plates.
  • Chute: (optional) used to direct materials from hoppers into chests or other containers. These blocks place directionally, with the output facing away from the player. Chutes are crafted from chute sections, which need to be crafted on an anvil with copper ingots, by hand or with the help of a helve hammer. As even the straight chute needs at least two sections, a minimum of two copper ingots is necessary for one chute.


Copper plate


Copper plate

Copper plate


hopper







Chutesection-copper


Chutesection-copper



Chute-straight







Chutesection-copper


Chutesection-copper



elbow chute







Automated Quern Train

The quern must be powered by connecting the incoming axle on the top or bottom of the quern. The quern cannot be powered by connecting the axle to the side of the quern. For maximum efficiency, connect the power input axle to the bottom of the quern. Automating input/output using hoppers and chutes is optional.

  • Input: Placing a hopper above the quern inserts items into the input slot of the quern. If the quern is powered from the top, input cannot be automated.
  • Output: Placing any item in the output slot will block the output, causing product items to drop out of the sides of the quern. To collect items, hoppers can be fed into chests, or into a system of chutes to direct output to one chest. Place at the level of the block supporting the quern, not next to the side of the quern itself. If the hopper, or any block for that matter, is placed next to the side of the quern, this placement will prevent the quern from producing items as the sides are blocked. Further, if the quern tries to output an item but the side is blocked, it will restart grinding the item. This means placing one block adjacent to the quern will reduce efficiency by 1 quarter.

Smithing

For mechanized smithing, the windmill is attached to a helve hammer. With a full complement of sails, the helve hammer will function, albeit slowly, at wind speeds as low as 30%. It can help the player in processing iron blooms and blister steel, as well as making plates of any metal type.

Materials required for automated smithing

  • Toggle: Connects the powered axle to the helve hammer base
  • Helve hammer base: Holds the helve hammer, connects the hammer arm to the power circuit.
  • Brake (optional): Placed after the helve hammer base, stops the hammer when not in use.


Copper hammer

Oak Board

Copper Chisel

Wooden Axle

Fat

Resin

Oak Board

wooden toggle


Oak Board

Oak Board



Resin

Resin

Oak Board

Oak Board


Copper hammer

Copper Chisel

Oak Board

Oak Board

Resin

Oak Board


Helve hammer base







Copper hammer

Copper Chisel

Log (Oak)


Wooden Axle


Resin

Brake





Resin

Resin


Automated Helve hammer train

The helve hammer must be powered by connecting the incoming axle on the left or right of the toggle and cannot be powered by connecting the axle to the top or bottom of the machine.

  1. The toggle must be placed adjacent to the helve hammer base. The toggle places sideways, be sure to orient the toggle such that the square frames abut the block intended for the helve hammer base. The input axle cannot be placed on the frameless sides of this block.
  2. The helve hammer base should be placed with the long arm of the triangular support and crossbeam facing the direction the payer intends to place the hammer. The sloped sides of the base are the back of the block, and the helve hammer will place directionally. Place an anvil three blocks away from the base, and then add the helve hammer onto the base. When placed correctly, the helve hammer should rest on the anvil when not in use. When placed on the base, the helve hammer requires two blocks to move freely through its arc.
  3. The brake (optional) can be placed on the other side of the helve hammer base.

Crushing

The pulverizer allows to crush certain stones and minerals into fine powder to be used for steel making. There is no other way to obtain these materials, thus mechanisation is necessary.

Materials required for a pulverizer set up

  • Pulverizer Frame - holds the pulverizer pounders and connects them to the power circuit.
  • Pulverizer Toggle - connects the powered axle to the pulverizer frame. Can only be crafted with a bronze or higher tier metal plate.
  • 2 Pulverizer Pounders
  • 2 Pounder Caps - reinforces the pounders and makes them crush the materials faster. Made by smithing on an anvil.
  • Hopper - (optional) used for material input/output.
  • Chute - (optional) used to direct materials from hoppers into chests or other containers. These blocks place directionally, with the output facing away from the player.


Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Copper Saw

Rock granite

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Pulverizer Frame

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board


Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board

Oak Board



Copper hammer

Copper Chisel

Metalplate iron

Wooden Axle

Pulverizer Toggle







Copper hammer

Copper Chisel

Log (Oak)

Log (Oak)

Log (Oak)


Pulverizer Pounder







Automated Pulverizer train

Pulverizer automation.PNG

The pulverizer must be powered by connecting the incoming axle on the left or right lower block of the frame structure. The toggle needs to be placed in the lower frame block. The pulverizer takes up a total of 4 blocks vertically, two for the frame itself and two more for the moving pounders.
The pulverizer pounders need to be placed in the frame block, and both have to be placed for the machine to work. After placing them, pounder caps of varying strengths - depending on the metal they are made of - can be attached. To add the caps, the player needs to have two cap items in their inventory in one stack, then right click the pounders with that stack. When changing caps, the previously used ones will be returned to the player.
Bauxite stones, quartz and olivine bits and ilmenite chunks can be placed two at a time under the pounders. The powdered materials will be thrown out at the block side opposite to the pounders. Please not that Ilmenite can only be crushed with pounders equipped with steel caps.

  • Input: Placing a hopper above an elbow chute leading into the front side of the frame, where the two pounders are located, will insert items into the input slots of the pulverizer. Note that a hopper drops items slowly - to speed the process up, replace the hopper with a chest directly above the elbow chute leading into the front side.
  • Output: Items will automatically be thrown out the back side of the frame, opposite of the two pounders. To collect items, hoppers can be fed into chests, or into a system of chutes to direct output to one chest. Place at the level of the block supporting the pulverizer, not next to the side of the frame block itself. If the hopper, or any block for that matter, is placed next to the back side of the pulverizer, this placement will block the normal output slot, and the items will instead be thrown out to the two blocks to the right and left of the block behind the frame block. To optimize the automated output, leave the block directly behind the lower frame block open, place blocks to the left and right and a hopper below. This way, the items thrown out cannot deviate to the side and will instead fall into the hopper.

Video Tutorials

How to build a windmill and Helve hammer in version 1.13 How to build a pulverizer in version 1.14 How to automate a pulverizer


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