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[Outcast Orange]

So I've started a new minimalist fortress.
Everything is wooden, above ground, except for a small farm and barracks. (before I had any wood)
The fortress is on a river cliff side, completely cut off from the rest of the map.

The cool thing is that everything is farm-able soil, and there is only bauxite beneath that.
I've dug a shaft straight down, to the top layer of bauxite, and dug out a single piece of it. (the remains of an up-stair)
I'm pretty sure it is in reach of the dwarfs, but they will not put it into a stone stockpile.
Also, the mechanic shop will not make a mechanism out of it.

Where is my super obvious mistake?

If you wish, I will upload my save, or maybe a map.

EDIT: Oops, my bad.
the last bit of stairs are going the wrong way, so now I have to channel them out and put in new ones.
Sorry.

[Arrkhal]

You will also need to go into stones on the z-menu and permit bauxite for general use, for your mechanic to make mechanisms.  Make sure all other stone jobs are on hold, and the bauxite is closest to the mechanic workshop.  Even then, you may need to queue up 2 or 3 mechanism jobs before he'll get the bauxite, as it seems like sometimes the mechanic will grab the stone that's closest to him, rather than closest to the workshop.

[Sizik]

You will also need to go into stones on the z-menu and permit bauxite for general use, for your mechanic to make mechanisms.  Make sure all other stone jobs are on hold, and the bauxite is closest to the mechanic workshop.  Even then, you may need to queue up 2 or 3 mechanism jobs before he'll get the bauxite, as it seems like sometimes the mechanic will grab the stone that's closest to him, rather than closest to the workshop.

Bauxite's not an economic stone.

[Outcast Orange]

Thank you for the help!
I was starting to get ticked off again.
But I've added bauxite to the green list, and now he seems to be going after it.

Also, the only stone on my entire map right now is a single bauxite stone.
I don't think any of that other stuff pertains to me.

[Akigagak]

There are mods which make all stone economic, it helps with wall designation and making furniture out of a Dwarfs favorite stone.

[Arrkhal]

Bauxite's not an economic stone.

Whether you personally consider it to be "economic" or not, the vanilla 40d11 game has it on the Stones z-list, and it defaults to red.  Go and check.

I've also had stubborn masons and mechanics grab andesite from 200 tiles away from the workshop, even when bauxite is green, and in a pile right next to the workshop.  About the only solution is to either mass-forbid things temporarily, or queue up twice as many as you need and dump the ones made of crappy stone.  It gets annoying.  I guess locked doors will also work, but dwarves get unhappy thoughts if they're locked in for too long.

[XSI]

Alternatively, once they are in the workshop with the bad stone, cancel the order, put in an order for what the other stone should be used for(Like blocks, you can never have enough blocks), and then put back your original order.

works 7 out of 10 times with my dwarves.

[Quietust]

Whether you personally consider it to be "economic" or not, the vanilla 40d11 game has it on the Stones z-list, and it defaults to red.  Go and check.

I suggest you go and recheck that you're actually using vanilla 40d11 - if you're using Mayday's tileset, you are not using a vanilla version, as that also includes the economic stone mod. Real vanilla 40d (and 40d16) does not include bauxite in the Z-Stones list.

[Albedo]

<nods>

zactly!

Bauxite's not an economic stone.

Whether you personally consider it to be "economic" or not

There is no "personal opinion" about this - "economic stones" are flux, obsidian, and ores - stones that can be used in ways other than generic stone.  Period.

(You can also think of them as stones with values over 1, but that's incidental.)

The fact that you can manipulate other, normal stones in a (modified) z-stones screen has nothing to do with it.

[Dorf3000]

Bauxite's not an economic stone.

I've also had stubborn masons and mechanics grab andesite from 200 tiles away from the workshop, even when bauxite is green, and in a pile right next to the workshop.

This is how it works:

1. A job is queued up at the workshop.
2. Spores from the workshop float out and infect a dwarf with the right labor enabled, putting into his mind the idea to do that particular job.
3. He will fetch an appropriate, accessible, nearby stone (near to him!) and go to the workshop to work on it.
4. Job done!
5. If there's another job to do there, he's pretty close and will probably do the next job with the closest appropriate stone.. which will be the one you originally wanted.

This is also why, even with a bauxite stone pile and mechanic shop that is well away from the other workshops, you will occasionally get a Bauxite table or statue.. some dorf was passing the pile when he got the urge to make some furniture.