Steam Grinder

The Steam Grinder is a Steam tier multiblock for crushing and grinding items into dusts. The Steam Grinder is a direct upgrade from the singleblock steam macerator because it runs at 125% speed, only uses 62.5% of the steam normally required, and offers 8 parallels. There are two tiers of the machine: basic (T1) and high-pressure (T2). The high-pressure version consumes twice the amount of steam to run twice as fast. The Steam Grinder is superseded by the Industrial Maceration Stack in EV.

Construction

The only structural difference between the basic and high-pressure Steam Grinder is the material of the casings and frame boxes. Steam is only accepted through a steam hatch (NOT an input hatch), much like other steam tier multiblocks. The steam input and output bus do not auto-push or auto-pull from adjacent inventories and therefore require hoppers, EnderIO item conduits, or conveyor modules for automation. Use the Multiblock Structure Hologram Projector to visualize/build the structure where the projector stack size determines the structure tier (1=Basic, 2=High Pressure).

Assuming plates are made in a forge hammer and rods are made with a file, a basic Steam Grinder (with the necessary hatches) requires 285 bronze ingots and 21 brick blocks to build. A high-pressure Steam Grinder requires 286 steel ingots, 66 bronze ingots, and 4 brick blocks to build.

Basic (T1)

Controller: Front center, 2nd layer
14-17 Bronze Plated Bricks
8 Bronze Frame Box
1 Bronze Gear Box Casing
1 Steam Hatch: Any normal casing
1+ Steam Input Bus: Any normal casing
1+ Steam Output Bus: Any normal casing

High-Pressure (T2)

Controller: Front center, 2nd layer
14-17 Solid Steel Machine Casing
8 Steel Frame Box
1 Steel Gear Box Casing
1 Steam Hatch: Any normal casing
1+ Steam Input Bus: Any normal casing
1+ Steam Output Bus: Any normal casing

Wallsharing

Steam Grinders may wallshare each of their sides to save on casings, frame boxes, and buses/hatches. This is highly recommended because it saves a significant amount of bronze and steel. Sharing also works with other steam tier multiblocks that use the same type of casing.

Usage

The Steam Grinder is a direct upgrade from the singleblock steam macerator because it runs at 125% speed, only uses 62.5% of the steam normally required, and offers 8 parallels. Upgrading to high-pressure (T2) doubles both the processing speed and steam consumption. Expect to use the Steam Grinder up to HV because of its large bonuses over singleblock machines.

The Steam Grinder processes recipes up to LV tier which includes most ore crushing recipes, but it does NOT give any byproducts. Those can only be produced by the Steam Separator and Steam Purifier this early in the game since macerating ores for byproducts requires an HV+ singleblock macerator or the Industrial Maceration Stack.