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[MelloHero]

Is there a way to limit the materials used to make various things besides forbidding everything that's not what you want, or building a workshop close to the item? I'm working on some magma-safe floodgate mechanisms for an obsidian farm (won't be complete until a much later time; the sheer distance between my pathetic underground trickle and the magma vent makes sure of that), and the bauxite is way out in BFE, such that building a mason's shop seems the least cost-effective solution. Possibilities?

[The Architect]

There's a mod somewhere that sets all stone as economic. I've never used it so I don't know how well it works for your purposes.

As far as options:
1) Put a mechanic's shop right in the middle of your bauxite and turn it all into mechanisms immediately! Then have your dwarves haul them to a furniture stockpile. In total it will probably take less time to haul the mechanisms just once to a furniture pile or build site than to haul stone to a workshop, furniture to a stockpile, and finally to a build site. And it will be certain not to lose your bauxite to something useless like your table/chair or craft industries.

Bauxite is not really useful to use as floodgates, bridges and other things. There are too many very abundant other things to use for that purpose, and only one material that makes magma-safe mechanisms. Just melt a goblin's armor and use a bar or two for your gates/doors/bridges. Pig iron, nickel, steel and platinum also work, and even platinum tends to be easier to acquire than bauxite.

[gtmattz]

even platinum tends to be easier to acquire than bauxite.

That is odd, because whenever I have a map with bauxite, there is usually a ton of it, even one cluster is way more than enough for most cases, barring megaprojects.

[silhouette]

... Odd..
Ive seen SHIT LOADS of bauxite but never a single tile of platinum...

[The Architect]

I was speaking of trade. Obviously if you have a bauxite cluster you have more than you can ever use. And in that case, this whole topic would be pointless, so I took it for granted that you don't have abundant bauxite. All sarcasm aside, why bother with the topic if you have a ton of bauxite? And it is still better to use iron than bauxite for non-mechanisms. Either way I believe your question was answered completely and thoroughly?

[Samyotix]

I'm fond of that hack/mod which sets all Minerals to economic. Just go to Status -> Stones and set which ones can be used.

It's included in Mike Mayday's graphics mod; I think it's also here:
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=52 (Minerals/Stone Mod?)
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=994 (Sean Mirrsen mod collection)

The method I usually use though is to designate a dumping zone next to an older Craftsdwarf's or Mason's Workshop (where the natural stones around it have been used up already), dump all the rare stones there, unforbid the dumped stone, and set the workshop to work.