Mining: Gravel and Sand

      I just discovered this recently, and want to blog it before i forget, so excuse the somewhat low quality. That will be fixed later. Anyway I discovered a quick and easy way to be rid of gravel or sand wasting your tools mining it. In fact all you need is a torch and a pick axe.

Obviously a tunnel may complicate a situation a little more, but the concept is the same. In the picture to the right is an example of what a single column in your mine might look like. For the record I am aware that it is sand and cobblestone, not stone and gravel, but it will still work the same.




      Now I will explain how you are supposed to be rid of the sand with a minimal amount of tool use.
      First you have to create a space under the supporting block. In that space place a torch. The gravity physics of Minecraft will keep this block from falling.





      The next step is simple. Destroy the floating block. The torch you have placed has already taken up the space. Therefore the sand, or gravel, cannot occupy that space, the result is the destruction of the sand
(or gravel).
      Violala you have just destroyed some pesky gravel, or sand, without wasting valuable tool health.
     Since my last post my Minecraft world has grown significantly, right now it is about 38 megabits. So here are some more screen shots.

inside of my pyramid

Zen garden and Floating mansion

Inside of my mansion, it is self sustaining and you can only enter it by water elevator

this is a mine cart track, it is a 2 and a half minute ride
back to my obsidian tower

       For the record I use the Xssheeps texture pack. It's my personal favorite and does not require a patcher. Some structures that were not shown were: my lava rooms, upside down pyramid, skyway, and the full extent of the aqua duct next to my floating mansion.

      Any way I hope this technique helped.