Mining Wells in action.
The Mining Well will dig a hole straight down underneath it. It requires an alternating redstone current (1.7.3.x) or engine (2.x) in order to function. The Mining Well will stop drilling down once it hits lava or bedrock. Destroying the Mining Well with a pickaxe will result in the Mining Well being dropped as an item able to be picked up and placed again. The Mining Well leaves Mining Pipe down the hole it drills, which can be left in place or punched away. If you destroy the Mining Well without first punching away the Mining Pipe directly below it, all the Mining Pipe will disappear, leaving a deep hole. (3.2.0). Blocks that the Mining Well digs out pop out of the Mining Well, unless there is a pipe attached, or a chest next to the mining well. It essentially is a 1x1 digging quarry, except it is less expensive.
Power requirements: max speed with 10 (hot) redstone engines, two stirling engines burning coal or one burning lava. You can reach even higher speeds using Combustion engines though you run the risk of said engines exploding. One or two stirling engines are recommended.
Uses: The Mining Well has three major uses being: 1 Making a fast path to the bedrock. 2 Finding lava for combustion engines. 3 Mining ore and cobble.
Caution: The piping left behind by the Mining Well will not fill up the entire block beneath it. Use caution when breaking your Mining Well as it may fall down the hole you created.
Recipe
Ingredients:
- 6 x Iron Ingots
- 1 x Iron Pickaxe
- 1 x Redstone Dust
- 1 x Iron Gear
Produces: 1 x Mining Well
See: Crafting Guide
Notes
- Despite using an Iron Pickaxe in the recipe, it can mine Obsidian, making it possible to obtain Obsidian Pipe without finding any diamonds.
- The mining well will not be able to pass lava, though it can continue operation if water is in the way.