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[Urist McCyrilin]

I am having a bit of a problem. For some reason, my dwarves seem particularly dense. My entire fort is littered in cut down trees. But they still prefer to take a huge walk around a mountain to pick up some logs that an elven caravan dropped.

Secondly and much more annoyingly, I am having some massive problms making soap. I have plenty of rocknut oil and lye directly next to my soap maker workshop. But the option to make soap remains red and inaccessible.

Similarly, I have a smelter stocked with plenty of charcoal. I built it right on top of a bituminous coal vein. But when I tell my dwarves to smelt up come coke, they claim they cannot find bituminous coal anywhere.

Has anyone experienced anything similar and can help? I'd appreciate it.

[PatrikLundell]

1. Dorfs largely uses a stack based (Last In First Out) approach to collect items. If the elven logs are "newer" than the cut ones, it's not unexpected. You'll see the same thing with rocks, where dorfs will ignore the ones lying in the workshop to get those just mined.

2. There is a bug concerning lye and barrels that causes lye containing buckets to be placed in barrels in stockpiles, including the buckett. This causes the lye to be unavailable. Forbidding barrels in the lye (only) stockpile and dumping the buckets already inside barrels can get they lye buckets out. Another possibility is that you've linked your soap maker's workshop to one stockpile but not the other one, so one of the ingredients is unavailable to the workshop.

3. Check that the coal actually has been mined, isn't forbidden, isn't stored in a stockpile that's not linked to your smelter if the smelter uses links, the smelter dorfs aren't burrowed so they cannot fetch the coal, there is a physical path to the coal from the smelter.

None of the items above is exhaustive, though...

[Urist McCyrilin]

1. Dorfs largely uses a stack based (Last In First Out) approach to collect items. If the elven logs are "newer" than the cut ones, it's not unexpected. You'll see the same thing with rocks, where dorfs will ignore the ones lying in the workshop to get those just mined.

2. There is a bug concerning lye and barrels that causes lye containing buckets to be placed in barrels in stockpiles, including the buckett. This causes the lye to be unavailable. Forbidding barrels in the lye (only) stockpile and dumping the buckets already inside barrels can get they lye buckets out. Another possibility is that you've linked your soap maker's workshop to one stockpile but not the other one, so one of the ingredients is unavailable to the workshop.

3. Check that the coal actually has been mined, isn't forbidden, isn't stored in a stockpile that's not linked to your smelter if the smelter uses links, the smelter dorfs aren't burrowed so they cannot fetch the coal, there is a physical path to the coal from the smelter.

None of the items above is exhaustive, though...

Thank you a lot for your insights. I haven't played in a while and so the linking thing sorta screwed me over. Thanks a bunch for your helpfulness!

[Niddhoger]

I found a jet vein in an early game.  Its the lightest stone (other than coal), so I figured I'd make all my pots out of it and it alone... there were elves about so I'd be able to trade easier with them as well.  So I built the craftdorfshop right next to some mined out jet and resumed mining out living quarters.  I figured he'd just grab the jet -right- next to his workshop.  Instead I noticed him following my miners around (slowly) hauling heavy stones they just mined out... I kept forbidding stones that he'd pick up until he grabbed the right one.  But then he'd just make 1-2 jet pots and resume making heavy ones.  I set up a jet-only stockpile that surrounded the workshop.  Still nothing.  Drove me bloody bonkers until I realized he was probably using FILO to pick up stones.  After that, I just stopped mining for a while until he made ~20 pots (then unforbid the other stone).  I believe I tried liking the stockpile to the workshop, but I swear it didn't change much. 

[PatrikLundell]

There are two tricks for your problem, Niddhoger:
- Make a links only stockpile where the jet boulders happen to lie, and link that to your workshop. For good measure you could try to link it to a "proper" jet only linked stockpile close to the workshop, on the off chance that the dorfs occasionally would haul some jet to that stockpile AND the chance the crafter would actually use that stockpile rather than the remote one.
- A DFHack version is to create your "make large pots" order, have it selected, and press Alt-a, m, inorganic, and type j to select jet (or scroll the list until you reach jet). Set this order on repeat. A very neat augmentation to get stuff made out of the material you want. I generally use it for featherwood shields and to ensure magma safe stuff (I usually select Gabbro, but use what you have available) when required.

[dirkzen]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but i'm having similar issues with my gem shop.
I've got plenty of uncut gems in my stockpile, but when I assign the task to cut or encrust something, they say I don't have that particular gem. 
I'm wondering if its a bug, or if the dwarves just lost them or something, or if my manager isn't keeping his records straight.

[Edit] I had the soap problem as well, but I solved it by giving oils, lye, and fat thier own little stockpiles and forbidding them from my main food pantry.  Suddenly cat soap everywhere.

[PatrikLundell]

Old thread or a new one doesn't really matter much.

I can think of a few reasons:
- No path between the jeweler's shop and the stockpile. The jeweler is a nasty one in that it has 3 impassable tiles in a row, so placing it in a snug fit may block access.
- Links that aren't set up correctly.
- Bins. If you use bins for your raw gems you're probably going to have constant interruptions because the bin is locked by a hauler who eventually intend to put a gem in it. That will then cancel the job.
- You've got the gems, but they're all marked as 'f'orbidden.

So what are your symptoms?
1. The line for ordering the job is red.
2. The line is white, but as soon as someone tries to do the job it's cancelled.
3. White line, but the jobs are cancelled all the time, with only a trickle of cut gems getting through?
4. Something else...