---
id: t4
title: Hopper blocks instead of fixed-size hoppers
status: Done
created: 2026-10-24
updated: 2026-10-24T23:25:51Z
tags: [discussion]
order: 15
report: |
  (agent) Built. Grinder ($60) and Saw ($90) are 1-block pieces in the Machines tab. Grains
  resting on top are worked and the result drops out underneath, so a row of them between two
  walls is a hopper of any width, and each block adds speed (two Grinders = one old Refiner, one
  Saw = one old Stone cutter). A Saw stacked on a Grinder cuts the stone and grinds everything
  else. If the space underneath fills up the block stops; hover it to see why. The Refiner and
  Stone cutter are gone from the menu; ones already built keep working. Please try a wide grinder
  hopper fed with the nozzle, a Saw on a Grinder, and an old save that has a Refiner.
  Follow-ups: the old Refiner and Stone cutter code is removed (a save that still has one loads
  and refunds it). Grinders now look like a pair of grinding wheels and Saws like a round blade.
  The Saw also cuts wood chunks into Planks, and its stone output is now called a Stone block.
  Clay bricks moved to their own task, t28 (Brick press).
---

## Context

- instead of buildings like the refiner which have a fixed size hopper, just make a block the same size as a wall tile that looks like grinding wheels where the user can place multiple side by side to create a wide hopper. the same thing should be done for the other buildings like that.

## Subtasks

- [x] Grinder block (does what the Refiner does) and Saw block (Stone cutter), 1 block each; side by side they make a wider, faster hopper
- [x] Refiner and Stone cutter leave the build menu; built ones in old saves keep working
- [x] Remove the Refiner and Stone cutter code; an old save that still has one loads with the machine taken out and its cost refunded
- [x] Grinders look like two grinding wheels and Saws like a round blade, turning while they work
- [x] The Saw also cuts wood chunks into Planks, which build wood walls and sell
- [x] Rename the Saw's "Stone brick" to "Stone block", so only fired clay is called a brick
- [x] The Saw's description and "stopped" hover say to put a belt or an open drop under it