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[buzz killington]

So I finally found mine, an incredible 140 levels down.  The problem is I only find the edges of warm stone.  I know where the extends end going up, but how does one breach / map into one correctly to actually use the stuff?  I've only had experience in volcanoes where its easy to map out.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Find the highest spot where there are warm stone announcements.

Dig a channel into one.

[Lemunde]

Magma doesn't flow as fast as you would think so if you mine directly into magma your miner won't necessarily get killed or injured since they can outrun the magma.  The safest way is to get above some warm stone and channel into it.  The problem is areas directly above magma are marked as warm stone as well so it's hard to tell which spots are safe to dig into.  My advice is when you find warm stone, go up a level then channel into it.  If you don't strike magma, go back down and channel in the spot where the warm stone was.

[Gus Smedstad]

I've found this to be pretty reliable:

1. Pick the highest tile that is marked as warm stone.
2. Go up one level, and try to dig above that tile.
3. If you encounter warm stone while digging horizontally, go back to step 1 - you have a new highest tile.
4. Once you're above a warm tile, dig a stairway through it from above.  I prefer this over channeling, since it leaves the tile walkable, and it still looks into the tile below.
5. If you don't immediately strike the Magma Sea, which you usually will, continue cutting a stairway down through warm stone.

The moment you do encounter the sea - from above, always - you can see the entire local thing, like with the caverns.  Since magma isn't pressurized, there's no real danger if you cut into a level that isn't the topmost - as long as you did so by digging down, not sideways.

 - Gus

[CppThis]

I haven't tried it but it might also be possible to use burrows to ensure an expendable dwarf (a noble maybe?) is the one assigned to dig the fateful hole by being closest.  But magma, as has been said, isn't normally under pressure so it flows pretty slowly.

[Xzalander]

Also remember diagonal flow of any liquid is slowed as well. its very easy to get magma usable for forges.... Its when you try using it as central heating that you have to worry.

[Inspiration]

Urist McMigrant: "Why is this wall warm?"
Urist McStupid: "Central Heating, see? [Uses pick to dig into wall]"

[RandomNumberGenerator]

I've found this to be pretty reliable:

1. Pick the highest tile that is marked as warm stone.
2. Go up one level, and try to dig above that tile.
3. If you encounter warm stone while digging horizontally, go back to step 1 - you have a new highest tile.
4. Once you're above a warm tile, dig a stairway through it from above.  I prefer this over channeling, since it leaves the tile walkable, and it still looks into the tile below.
5. If you don't immediately strike the Magma Sea, which you usually will, continue cutting a stairway down through warm stone.

The moment you do encounter the sea - from above, always - you can see the entire local thing, like with the caverns.  Since magma isn't pressurized, there's no real danger if you cut into a level that isn't the topmost - as long as you did so by digging down, not sideways.

 - Gus

If you use up ramps from below(not channels) it will reveal it without breaching it even.

[Dave Mongoose]

I've found this to be pretty reliable:

1. Pick the highest tile that is marked as warm stone.
2. Go up one level, and try to dig above that tile.
3. If you encounter warm stone while digging horizontally, go back to step 1 - you have a new highest tile.
4. Once you're above a warm tile, dig a stairway through it from above.  I prefer this over channeling, since it leaves the tile walkable, and it still looks into the tile below.
5. If you don't immediately strike the Magma Sea, which you usually will, continue cutting a stairway down through warm stone.

The moment you do encounter the sea - from above, always - you can see the entire local thing, like with the caverns.  Since magma isn't pressurized, there's no real danger if you cut into a level that isn't the topmost - as long as you did so by digging down, not sideways.

 - Gus

If you use up ramps from below(not channels) it will reveal it without breaching it even.

I'm pretty sure that an up ramp from below does remove the floor of the tile above, just like channelling would...

[Gus Smedstad]

Yes, up ramps definitely remove the floor from the tile above.  I routinely use ramps instead of channels because they're safer - dwarves won't dig themselves into a situation where they fall with ramps, but they will with channels.

Of course, in some cases you want to channel from above, but that's less common with my constructions.

 - Gus