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[DwarfRaiden]

Hello,

I'm trying to manage what stones get used for a production. So I've created isolated rooms with stockpiles, and mason's workshop that have only one door that I intend to lock with a dwarf inside. The stockpile will be filled in with a certain stone type only of course.

While I was reading wiki, i found out that its a good idea to build the workshops from blocks instead of rough stones. So I started to rebuild the workshops with one producing the blocks already. I found out that the mason is bringing the stone from a far away stockpile rather than using the one filled with DOLOMITE just beside his shop. If the dwarf was locked in his room, he was using the stockpile of dolomites, but as soon as the door got unlocked, he was running away again to pick various assorted stones to finish the job.

Seeing this, I'm quite afraid that my management plan is about to fail and the dwarf will bring a stone with him to start working on a batch job.

As a clarification, I have pretty much the standard embark settings in the Z / stone menu. Dolomite is green - enabled for all uses.

Any advice is welcome.

[Naina]

Is it possible you're doing a digging project underneath the workshop? I've found masons tend to use the closest stone *in a straight line from where they're working*, so if you're doing a digging project, the mason might 'see' the stone three z-levels under him as closer than the stone in the stockpile, even if he has to trek 3/4ths of the way across the fortress to access that stone.

[ShinWalks]

I'm not sure why it would matter whether the workshops were built of blocks or rough stones (so that if you wanted to forbid a type of stone it wouldn't forbid the workshop, I suppose?), but the locked door plan seems fine. I think burrows are also a commonly used method of controlling the materials a particular worker uses; it requires a bit of initial setup, but should be pretty automatic once it's running.

If a worker is assigned to a burrow that only contains a workshop of the correct type and a stockpile of a particular material, I think the worker will only use materials in the burrow when taking a job. You would need to also put some food and drinks in the burrow or periodically remove the worker from it so that he/she wouldn't die.

[DwarfRaiden]

Is it possible you're doing a digging project underneath the workshop? I've found masons tend to use the closest stone *in a straight line from where they're working*, so if you're doing a digging project, the mason might 'see' the stone three z-levels under him as closer than the stone in the stockpile, even if he has to trek 3/4ths of the way across the fortress to access that stone.

I've got a huge 16x16 stockpile 1 level above. I'll try to sort it out and test it.

[DwarfRaiden]

Is it possible you're doing a digging project underneath the workshop? I've found masons tend to use the closest stone *in a straight line from where they're working*, so if you're doing a digging project, the mason might 'see' the stone three z-levels under him as closer than the stone in the stockpile, even if he has to trek 3/4ths of the way across the fortress to access that stone.

Stone pile removed, and the mason did bring one stone with him to do the work. But then he is using the stockpile nearby correctly. I don't have manager yet in this map to see if I can sort out the first stone as well, but it seems i'm on the right track now.

Thanks.

[DwarfRaiden]

I'm not sure why it would matter whether the workshops were built of blocks or rough stones (so that if you wanted to forbid a type of stone it wouldn't forbid the workshop, I suppose?), but the locked door plan seems fine. I think burrows are also a commonly used method of controlling the materials a particular worker uses; it requires a bit of initial setup, but should be pretty automatic once it's running.

If a worker is assigned to a burrow that only contains a workshop of the correct type and a stockpile of a particular material, I think the worker will only use materials in the burrow when taking a job. You would need to also put some food and drinks in the burrow or periodically remove the worker from it so that he/she wouldn't die.

Exactly that is the case mentioned in wiki, I'm trying to prevent.

Cheers

[Lytha]

A relatively safe way to ensure that your mason only uses certain types of rocks is to make a 1 tile wide 5x5 stockpile around the mason's workshop, and to set it to only accept the type of rock you want him to work with. Unless you are digging directly above or below the workshop, he will then accept this stockpile as the closest source of rocks.

However, whenever he has been taking a break from work, he will then pick up whatever rock was nearest to the meeting hall/dormitory/booze stockpile and carry that one to the workshop before he continues with the rocks from the stockpile around his workshop.

Anyway, this setup allows you to manage the mason without the hassle of a burrow or locked doors (and the bad thoughts/deaths that happen if the mason gets hungry and thirsty in these setups).

[loose nut]

I'm pretty sure what happens is that your masons and stonecrafters try to use the closest available stone for a bit, and then they use the last stone that has been handled, which means they like to use stone that's just been mined out. What the stone stockpile does is get the dwarves to handle older stone of a type you specify, so the masons tend to use that instead. It's never 100%. But, having dwarves bring particular stones to the stockpile does get you products that are mostly made of that stone.

If you absolutely positively have to have your legendary mason make things out of native gold or whatever, a little stockpile plus a locked door or a burrow does the job.

[greycat]

No, like Lytha said, it's nearness to the dwarf that matters, not nearness to the workshop.  When a dwarf signs up for a job that needs a stone, he grabs the closest stone relative to where he is, which could be quite far from the workshop.  But the second, third, etc. jobs that he does from that same workshop (assuming he doesn't take a break in between) should use the stones you want.

[Fredd]

You can also have a huge building project designated nearby, and the stone in the stockpile has been reserved for it.
 Use of a quantum stockpile works well. Create a dump zone next to the mason shops, after you hit a layer of stone you like, like marble. Deactivate your main dump zone, activate the one near the masonary shop, use mass dump, d b d on the stone you want the masons to use. Haulers take it there. When you are satisfied with the amount, deactivate it, mass claim the stone, d b c, then reactivate you main dump zone. Treat it like shops that decorate stuff, a little off the beaten, or this case, dug paths with stone. And if you are assigning jobs directly from the shop, not manager screen, make sure the first job is a block, so not to make a item from some ugly stone, lol

[aepurniet]

I like to qantum dump all stone, then unforbid one type and that gets used for jobs.  This means I don't run mason jobs while mining. As soon as stone is set to be dumped you can restart mason jobs.

[Darkmere]

You're trying to use dolomite? That's a flux stone. Go to z-> stone and tell the game it's okay to use dolomite for normal projects. That's why they refuse to use it.

[Fredd]

In case you do not know it yet, there are orders where you can mass claim, mass forbid, or mass dump. Type in the order you want, then mark out a area like a you would a stockpile, using the ENTER key. All things in the area either get dumped, claimed, or forbidden.Beats individually tagging them for one of the three options