I didn't want my method of mining to hijack another thread, so here is my method of mining. A little explanation about why I mine this way first.
I don't like having to build minecarts to get to a new mine, or the end of my current mine. I want to be able to get there and back quickly. Also, I don't want to bloat my save file by having the game generate too many chunks, so I came up with this hybrid method. To suit your personal taste, you can leave 2 or 3 spaces between each leg of the mine.
Conceptual Image(Easy on the eyes)
The green blocks are the shortcut blocks you need to mine. It's a very small amount of extra 'wasteful' mining to make your travel time very short. Not shown are the 'windows' you need to mine at the opposite end of each leg from the green blocks. These let you know when you are at the end of each leg.
100 block branches:
Length of main red branch - 96 blocks. One quadrant would be 6800 blocks mined, and after mining 6800 blocks, you would only have to walk 96 meters to get back to your main room. This is a HUGE time saver over traditional branch mining.
27200 blocks mined
108800 blocks exposed
3* hours of mining time with iron picks, using 109 iron picks.
2.25* hours of mining time with diamond picks, using 18 diamond picks.
With the figures in the wiki, you would find 87 diamond and 544 iron in this mine. You would use either 54 diamond or 327 iron actually digging out the mine, leaving you with a total gain of either:
33 diamond and 544 iron
-or-
87 diamond and 217 iron
Keep in mind this is enough mining to fill nearly 8 double chests full of cobble(assuming every block mined were stone)
200 block branches:
If you are the kind of person who would never actually finish one of these mines, then it is a very efficient method for you. If you are a hard-core Minecraft junkie(not a bad thing), then you could consider making each leg of the mine 200 blocks instead of 100. Basically, you would be quadrupling every numeric figure.
Length of main red branch - 192 meters. One quadrant would be 27200 blocks mined, and after mining 27200 blocks, you would only have to walk 192 meters to get back to your main room. This is a HUGE time saver over traditional branch mining.
108,800 blocks mined.
435,200 blocks exposed.
Distance to walk to start mining again - 192
12* hours of mining time with iron picks, using 436 iron picks.
9* hours of mining time with diamond picks, using 72 diamond picks.
With the figures in the wiki, you would find 348 diamond and 2176 iron in this mine. You would use either 216 diamond or 1308 iron actually digging out the mine, leaving you with a total gain of either:
132 diamond and 2176 iron
-or-
348 diamond and 868 iron
And nearly 32 double chests of cobblestone.
*Time listed is time spent actually mining and does not include inefficiencies such as walking, placing torches, extracting ore, making/changing picks, etc... The best guage is to go off of how many picks would be used.
Yeah, just a sample of the technique with only a couple lines in each direction would be sufficient. You don't need to display every single line. Makes it hard to look at.
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FM DebugMod 1.2.5v1 - Fixes problems with F3 debugging graphs, restores entity labels, and strips down debug info (updated 2012-04-04)
With the figures in the wiki, you would find 87 diamond and 544 iron in this mine. You would use either 54 diamond or 327 iron actually digging out the mine, leaving you with a total gain of either:
132 diamond and 2176 iron
-or-
348 diamond and 868 iron
huh?
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Quote from Occorru »
The time between updates is 20% work, 40% vacations, and 60% Jeb perfecting lanterns.
[*:2p6jbdvj]This style of mining is continuous mining. No wasted time walking back down a branch you just mined to start a new one. At the end of a branch, you mine over 3 or 4 blocks, and mine back the other way.
[*:2p6jbdvj]You only have to 'count' the first leg you make. Let's say you are doing the 100-block-leg mine. Place a torch every 10 blocks(on the floor is fine). When you place the 10th torch, mine over 3/4 blocks. Then, make a window by mining 3-4 blocks extra, but only mine 1x1. You are making a window, not a tunnel. That way, when you come this way again, you will know to stop when you hit your window and can see into the last leg you mined.
Quote from sammetju08 »
nice but it hurts my head when i try to look at the example pictures because there are too many slim lines in it...
I do apologize for that. Here is a smaller, conceptual image. I made the complete images to show total efficiency and scale.
Quote from Stroke »
OMG! what a great discovery.BUT
With the figures in the wiki, you would find 87 diamond and 544 iron in this mine. You would use either 54 diamond or 327 iron actually digging out the mine, leaving you with a total gain of either:
132 diamond and 2176 iron
-or-
348 diamond and 868 iron
huh?
The wiki says 0.08% of all rock is diamond, and 0.5% of all rock is iron. What I mean with that statement is after mining out the entire pattern you would find on average 87 diamond and 544 iron. However, you would use 54 diamond to make enough diamond picks to mine out the pattern, or 327 iron to make enough iron picks to mine out the pattern. So, if you use diamond picks your net yield would be 132 diamond and 2176 iron. If you use iron picks your net yield will be 348 diamond and 868 iron.
Quote from Castaway »
It's just branch mining in a square to save walking time... Not really special
I'm sorry you don't like it, I was just showing people how to save a lot of time walking and not need to waste iron on minecart tracks for their mines.
Quote from Blakids »
I love crazy stats like this. I would never do the 200 yikes.
btw you have an error, you repeat the amount gained on the second one.
Stroke Wrote : OMG! what a great discovery.BUT
With the figures in the wiki, you would find 87 diamond and 544 iron in this mine. You would use either 54 diamond or 327 iron actually digging out the mine, leaving you with a total gain of either:
132 diamond and 2176 iron
-or-
348 diamond and 868 iron
The wiki says 0.08% of all rock is diamond, and 0.5% of all rock is iron. What I mean with that statement is after mining out the entire pattern you would find on average 87 diamond and 544 iron. However, you would use 54 diamond to make enough diamond picks to mine out the pattern, or 327 iron to make enough iron picks to mine out the pattern. So, if you use diamond picks your net yield would be 132 diamond and 2176 iron. If you use iron picks your net yield will be 348 diamond and 868 iron.
What I meant was that you repeated it,which you fixed quickly. :tongue.gif:
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Quote from Occorru »
The time between updates is 20% work, 40% vacations, and 60% Jeb perfecting lanterns.
At what level would this mining method be most efficeint.
Level 12. This way, if you come across a lava lake, you can pour water on it, and the obsidian formed will be the same level as your floor.
You should note that this isn't the most efficient form of mining for finding resources. This is just my way of compacting mining to save walking time and file save size. If you really want to go for efficiency, I would space each leg out about 10-20 meters from the previous one. You would be looking to come across as many caves and lava lakes as possible in the shortest amount of time. That would just result in my saves getting too big for comfort.
It's really awesome you discovered a mining technique that happens to share the same name as you. I mean, I realize it's a mythological bird but it is still a pretty huge coincidence.
Interesting technique too.
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My Grandmother passed away on Sunday, the 7th of August, 2011. I am taking an extended leave of absence in light of this. My apologies.
normal branchmining vs 'Phoenix' mining
I'd rather do normal branchmining, you walk the exact same distance but it's easier since you have 2 mines at the left and right to you
If you want to only have 2 main branches, then you should do it this way.
The whole point is optimization. I see how most people branch mine, and they waste a lot of time walking. I wanted to show people how to do it more efficiently. The other point I made is using windows at the end of each hallway so you don't have to count, just mine until you hit your window. With my alterations, every meter you walk is a meter mined.
hmm this is arguably one of the best mining methods I have seen it doesn't miss any blocks, keeps it continuous and has a very small % of waste mining. It also makes a very easy pattern so that you wont ever become disorientated and get lost
Thanks Grizdale. While I'm mining, I like to think of ways to do things more efficiently. After all, I do start to get bored about 1000 blocks in :tongue.gif:
Quote from openlor »
thanks for the great tip!
Welcome. :smile.gif:
Quote from Judasremains »
It's really awesome you discovered a mining technique that happens to share the same name as you. I mean, I realize it's a mythological bird but it is still a pretty huge coincidence.
Protip: Build this on every floor for maximum profit.
Seriously, it isn't much of difference from normal branchmining...At least I think so. It's still effective, right?
Btw. what program did you use?
Ah, I forgot to include that in the original post. Since this mining method is all about compactness and efficiency, the central room is built around the staircase. 4 meters vertically down the staircase would be another room and mine. Well, I guess 4 meters up, since I wouldn't mine below layer 12 and that would be where I start.
I used paint.
The differences from normal branch mining:
1 - The snake pattern so you mine 2 blocks for every meter you walk. 0 backtracing.
2 - Windows at the end of hallways so you don't have to count blocks to get the same length every time.
3 - 4-quadrant pattern so you don't miss any blocks around the main room.
4 - Most people that use branch mining don't mine branches out very long. To make it efficient, I recommend hallways 100 or 200 meters long... or more :smile.gif: It all depends on how much you play Minecraft, how much you mine, how long you plan to keep your world around, and how 'compact' you want your world(1 mine, 1 base vs. 5 mines, 5 bases)
You don't get it, this is the exact same thing as branch mining... I have 2 main branches, where yours has 4; You don't have to count either with branch mining; and also every meter walked is a meter mined...?
Sorry for my very crappy english :tongue.gif:
I'll try and show you more plainly the difference. It is *not* the exact same thing. The left is my method, the right is traditional branch mining.
With traditional branch mining, it is impossible not to either backtrack, or retrace your steps. You cannot continuously mine. Traditional branch mining is mining a main shaft, then branches off of it. After you finish a branch, you walk back to the main shaft and start a new one. Modified branch mining is like what you posted. Instead of walking back, you dig over 3 or 4 blocks and dig your way back. However, you will still end up retracing your steps. Also, branch mining usually gets a recommendation of 20-50 blocks long per branch, which is wasteful. With mine, I outline the importance of having longer branches.
If it bothers you that I have posted an improvement on what most people do, then I apologize that I offended you.
I was thinking about it, and I came up with a perfectly expandable method, where you don't limit yourself to how big the mine will eventually become. It just requires a little more counting.
basically, every time you reach a window(red squares), you dig 6 more blocks, then turn.
It doesnt bother me, you just don't understand the picture I think; you don't backtrace your steps, you make loops (just like yours) you dont backtrace anything
Look again. On the left, you mine in one continuous line. Down, left, up, left, down, etc... Every step you take, you are taking into a space you just mined.
Now, look at the right. The best you can possibly do is to mine over 6 spaces, then mine up, left, down, right, and back up to where you started. Even if you do this(the most efficient way to do this type of branch mining), you will walk over an empty space you already mined every time, and would be mining either 2 or 4 more blocks than necessary. Most people will mine the main corridor, then go back and start mining the branches. Or, mine over 3 spaces, then do the loop(up, right, down, left) then keep mining the main branch. No matter how you do it, you have to either backtrack or retrace your steps to get to the next branch.
I don't like having to build minecarts to get to a new mine, or the end of my current mine. I want to be able to get there and back quickly. Also, I don't want to bloat my save file by having the game generate too many chunks, so I came up with this hybrid method. To suit your personal taste, you can leave 2 or 3 spaces between each leg of the mine.
The green blocks are the shortcut blocks you need to mine. It's a very small amount of extra 'wasteful' mining to make your travel time very short. Not shown are the 'windows' you need to mine at the opposite end of each leg from the green blocks. These let you know when you are at the end of each leg.
Length of main red branch - 96 blocks. One quadrant would be 6800 blocks mined, and after mining 6800 blocks, you would only have to walk 96 meters to get back to your main room. This is a HUGE time saver over traditional branch mining.
27200 blocks mined
108800 blocks exposed
3* hours of mining time with iron picks, using 109 iron picks.
2.25* hours of mining time with diamond picks, using 18 diamond picks.
With the figures in the wiki, you would find 87 diamond and 544 iron in this mine. You would use either 54 diamond or 327 iron actually digging out the mine, leaving you with a total gain of either:
33 diamond and 544 iron
-or-
87 diamond and 217 iron
Keep in mind this is enough mining to fill nearly 8 double chests full of cobble(assuming every block mined were stone)
If you are the kind of person who would never actually finish one of these mines, then it is a very efficient method for you. If you are a hard-core Minecraft junkie(not a bad thing), then you could consider making each leg of the mine 200 blocks instead of 100. Basically, you would be quadrupling every numeric figure.
Length of main red branch - 192 meters. One quadrant would be 27200 blocks mined, and after mining 27200 blocks, you would only have to walk 192 meters to get back to your main room. This is a HUGE time saver over traditional branch mining.
108,800 blocks mined.
435,200 blocks exposed.
Distance to walk to start mining again - 192
12* hours of mining time with iron picks, using 436 iron picks.
9* hours of mining time with diamond picks, using 72 diamond picks.
With the figures in the wiki, you would find 348 diamond and 2176 iron in this mine. You would use either 216 diamond or 1308 iron actually digging out the mine, leaving you with a total gain of either:
132 diamond and 2176 iron
-or-
348 diamond and 868 iron
And nearly 32 double chests of cobblestone.
*Time listed is time spent actually mining and does not include inefficiencies such as walking, placing torches, extracting ore, making/changing picks, etc... The best guage is to go off of how many picks would be used.
huh?
btw you have an error, you repeat the amount gained on the second one.
[*:2p6jbdvj]This style of mining is continuous mining. No wasted time walking back down a branch you just mined to start a new one. At the end of a branch, you mine over 3 or 4 blocks, and mine back the other way.
[*:2p6jbdvj]You only have to 'count' the first leg you make. Let's say you are doing the 100-block-leg mine. Place a torch every 10 blocks(on the floor is fine). When you place the 10th torch, mine over 3/4 blocks. Then, make a window by mining 3-4 blocks extra, but only mine 1x1. You are making a window, not a tunnel. That way, when you come this way again, you will know to stop when you hit your window and can see into the last leg you mined.
I do apologize for that. Here is a smaller, conceptual image. I made the complete images to show total efficiency and scale.
The wiki says 0.08% of all rock is diamond, and 0.5% of all rock is iron. What I mean with that statement is after mining out the entire pattern you would find on average 87 diamond and 544 iron. However, you would use 54 diamond to make enough diamond picks to mine out the pattern, or 327 iron to make enough iron picks to mine out the pattern. So, if you use diamond picks your net yield would be 132 diamond and 2176 iron. If you use iron picks your net yield will be 348 diamond and 868 iron.
I'm sorry you don't like it, I was just showing people how to save a lot of time walking and not need to waste iron on minecart tracks for their mines.
Thanks, fixed.
What I meant was that you repeated it,which you fixed quickly. :tongue.gif:
At what level would this mining method be most efficeint.
Oh, lol. I was actually responding to posts from bottom to top so I fixed it before I got to your post :tongue.gif:
Fail explain is fail :biggrin.gif:
At layers 12-14. High enough to skim above most lava chambers, but low enough to maximise diamond yield.
Level 12. This way, if you come across a lava lake, you can pour water on it, and the obsidian formed will be the same level as your floor.
You should note that this isn't the most efficient form of mining for finding resources. This is just my way of compacting mining to save walking time and file save size. If you really want to go for efficiency, I would space each leg out about 10-20 meters from the previous one. You would be looking to come across as many caves and lava lakes as possible in the shortest amount of time. That would just result in my saves getting too big for comfort.
And besides, I need a lot of cobble :smile.gif:
Interesting technique too.
If you want to only have 2 main branches, then you should do it this way.
The whole point is optimization. I see how most people branch mine, and they waste a lot of time walking. I wanted to show people how to do it more efficiently. The other point I made is using windows at the end of each hallway so you don't have to count, just mine until you hit your window. With my alterations, every meter you walk is a meter mined.
Thanks Grizdale. While I'm mining, I like to think of ways to do things more efficiently. After all, I do start to get bored about 1000 blocks in :tongue.gif:
Welcome. :smile.gif:
It came to me in a dream. :tongue.gif:
Ah, I forgot to include that in the original post. Since this mining method is all about compactness and efficiency, the central room is built around the staircase. 4 meters vertically down the staircase would be another room and mine. Well, I guess 4 meters up, since I wouldn't mine below layer 12 and that would be where I start.
I used paint.
The differences from normal branch mining:
1 - The snake pattern so you mine 2 blocks for every meter you walk. 0 backtracing.
2 - Windows at the end of hallways so you don't have to count blocks to get the same length every time.
3 - 4-quadrant pattern so you don't miss any blocks around the main room.
4 - Most people that use branch mining don't mine branches out very long. To make it efficient, I recommend hallways 100 or 200 meters long... or more :smile.gif: It all depends on how much you play Minecraft, how much you mine, how long you plan to keep your world around, and how 'compact' you want your world(1 mine, 1 base vs. 5 mines, 5 bases)
I'll try and show you more plainly the difference. It is *not* the exact same thing. The left is my method, the right is traditional branch mining.
With traditional branch mining, it is impossible not to either backtrack, or retrace your steps. You cannot continuously mine. Traditional branch mining is mining a main shaft, then branches off of it. After you finish a branch, you walk back to the main shaft and start a new one. Modified branch mining is like what you posted. Instead of walking back, you dig over 3 or 4 blocks and dig your way back. However, you will still end up retracing your steps. Also, branch mining usually gets a recommendation of 20-50 blocks long per branch, which is wasteful. With mine, I outline the importance of having longer branches.
If it bothers you that I have posted an improvement on what most people do, then I apologize that I offended you.
basically, every time you reach a window(red squares), you dig 6 more blocks, then turn.
Look again. On the left, you mine in one continuous line. Down, left, up, left, down, etc... Every step you take, you are taking into a space you just mined.
Now, look at the right. The best you can possibly do is to mine over 6 spaces, then mine up, left, down, right, and back up to where you started. Even if you do this(the most efficient way to do this type of branch mining), you will walk over an empty space you already mined every time, and would be mining either 2 or 4 more blocks than necessary. Most people will mine the main corridor, then go back and start mining the branches. Or, mine over 3 spaces, then do the loop(up, right, down, left) then keep mining the main branch. No matter how you do it, you have to either backtrack or retrace your steps to get to the next branch.