Quarrying with RFTools

This is a community-written guide. It was written to help players get accustomed to using the RFTools Builder as a quarry.

About this Guide
This guide is not an exhaustive description of items, nor a tutorial on using each item. It is a helping hand to get you started with using the RFTools Builder as a quarry. Throughout this guide you'll find links to various blocks and items. Be sure to explore these links for full details, descriptions and illustrations.

The Builder
The Builder is an incredibly versatile machine, capable of both destruction and creation in a myriad array of shapes and sizes. In this guide, we're interested in the Builder's appetite for destruction. For more information on the Builder, see the guide The RFTools Builder and You.

To use the Builder as a quarry, you'll need to make a Shape Card (Quarry), a Builder and a Lever. You'll also need a source of power and a big chest to put everything in.

Placing the Builder
That was pretty easy, wasn't it?
 * 1) Find a suitable place to quarry.
 * 2) Place the Builder.
 * 3) Hook up power to a side face.
 * 4) Place a chest on top.
 * 5) Place a lever on the other side.



Defining an area to quarry
Caution: When selecting the area to quarry, ensure the Builder and any support equipment is outside the area. The Builder will mine ducts and other machines.
 * 1) Hold your Shape Card (Quarry) in your hand
 * 2) Sneak right-click the card on the Builder. The Builder will be highlighted in yellow and you'll see a message in chat to select your first corner. RFT-Quarry-Step2.jpg
 * 3) Right-click on a spot of ground near your quarry. The block will be highlighted in yellow and you'll see another message in chat to select your second corner. RFT-Quarry-Step3.jpg
 * 4) Move to another spot and right-click a block. You'll see a message in chat that the settings have been copied to the card.
 * 5) Right-click the card in the air and the card's GUI will open. Near the top you'll see some buttons that allow you to change the shape. Below that, the number of affected blocks and boxes to manually enter dimensions and offsets. On the right, a visualizations of the area selected. At the moment, you'll just see a flat rectangle. RFT-Quarry-Step4.jpg
 * 6) The numbers are the X, Y & Z coordinates. Change the middle "Dim" number to 200 and the middle "offset" number to -100. This will change the area to go up 100 blocks and down 100 blocks. Don't change the others yet. The visualization will update to show the new area. RFT-Quarry-Step5.jpg
 * 7) Check all the boxes at the bottom, to automatically void the garbage. RFT-Quarry-Step6.jpg
 * 8) Now right-click the Shape Card onto the Builder. You've now set the area to quarry.

Operating your quarry

 * 1) Flip the lever. Your quarry is now operational. So long as it has power and available space in the chest, it will mine for you. Dealing with the output is your problem.

Note: Be aware that the Builder draws quite a lot of power so you'll need a decent power generation setup to feed it. You may want to create a dedicated power system for the Builder so that your other machines don't run empty. If your power supply cannot provide all the power the quarry needs, the Builder will pause until it has enough.

Visualizing the Area
In the Builder's GUI, there's a button with a life preserver icon. This is the visualization tool.

Clicking this button will cause the Builder to project a border of light-blue blocks around the affected area, allowing you to easily see the area affected. Rendering of these blocks may be problematic for very large areas.

Note: By default, a Space Card's area is centered around the card. If you're not careful, you may find your Builder in the center of the area. This is not recommended.

Afterword
As mentioned earlier, this guide is a quick HOW-TO and is restricted to using the Builder as a quarry. For more information on using Shape Cards and Builders, please see the guides The RFTools Builder and You and All About Shape Cards.