Redstone ore hooked to a bud switch is great for ground based traps, an alternate to pressure plates, or just a different looking button. Un-mined diamonds make nice lures for traps, or trophies.
Getting it to the surface however can be a bit of a chore.
I've converted my abandoned boat elevator into a mine shaft for moving ores. If you want to move ore to the surface, I suggest a minimum 2x3 hole straight down to where ever you mine or quarry is. My mining station is y-20, the mining area is to bedrock. This is the shaft
looking up.
Use a piston, a button and dirt to free up the ore and get to a level you can work with. I wouldn't worry about automating everything. Once free, if you can set up a 90 degree angle or get a straight shot to your shaft, by all means automate, but test first. If in doubt, use obsidian as a stop(so you don't accidentally push your prize into a wall. Blocks will travel a max of 12 so you can use the max till the piston stops or use obsidian.(highly recommended if your automating).
Isolating redstone
Obsidian stopblocks, good for when you have to stop a block before pistons reach there max push distance.
Once your in the shaft it just a matter of pushing with pistons. Here I button it with dirt. The time it takes to automate, and the amount of redtorches you burn through doing it, its just quicker to manually push a button and load dirt. You don't need fancy wiring, redstone running across the back of both pistons and a button... You should not need a repeater unless you need to isolate the signal.
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Every 12 blocks you' have to alternate left or right. Once your up top or close to, it will be no problem to automate the moving.
I have piston clocks at top and bottom. When not in use, a switch turns them off. I use one clock, but run redstone where I need it like an extension cord. One clock for each area, instead of multiple clocks.
Once you run one or two up you can start loading up, and bring five or more at a time.
Using sand or gravel for upward travel could make resetting(clearing out blocks) quicker if you use a torch at the bottoms.
I've automated only long horizontal stretches. Making a fancy fully automated system takes time, and just button pressing with dirt is just the fastest (and cheapest) way to go.
When not pushing ore, I just remove the dirt and leave the pistons there. As I mine out ward, some will have to move, but the main one leading to and up the shaft stay.
Hopefully this helps someone out. My breaks over. Back to the mine.
Getting it to the surface however can be a bit of a chore.
I've converted my abandoned boat elevator into a mine shaft for moving ores. If you want to move ore to the surface, I suggest a minimum 2x3 hole straight down to where ever you mine or quarry is. My mining station is y-20, the mining area is to bedrock. This is the shaft
Use a piston, a button and dirt to free up the ore and get to a level you can work with. I wouldn't worry about automating everything. Once free, if you can set up a 90 degree angle or get a straight shot to your shaft, by all means automate, but test first. If in doubt, use obsidian as a stop(so you don't accidentally push your prize into a wall. Blocks will travel a max of 12 so you can use the max till the piston stops or use obsidian.(highly recommended if your automating).
Every 12 blocks you' have to alternate left or right. Once your up top or close to, it will be no problem to automate the moving.
I have piston clocks at top and bottom. When not in use, a switch turns them off. I use one clock, but run redstone where I need it like an extension cord. One clock for each area, instead of multiple clocks.
Using sand or gravel for upward travel could make resetting(clearing out blocks) quicker if you use a torch at the bottoms.
I've automated only long horizontal stretches. Making a fancy fully automated system takes time, and just button pressing with dirt is just the fastest (and cheapest) way to go.
When not pushing ore, I just remove the dirt and leave the pistons there. As I mine out ward, some will have to move, but the main one leading to and up the shaft stay.
Hopefully this helps someone out. My breaks over. Back to the mine.