The grindstone is a useful block in Minecraft, primarily used for repairing and disenchanting items. It offers a way to restore durability to damaged tools, weapons, and armor, as well as removing unwanted enchantments. This guide will provide a comprehensive walkthrough on how to craft and use a grindstone in Minecraft.
What is a Grindstone in Minecraft?
A grindstone is a workstation block in Minecraft that serves two primary functions:
- Repairing Items: Combine two identical damaged items to create a single item with increased durability. The combined item’s durability will be the sum of the two original items’ durabilities plus an additional 5% bonus.
- Disenchanting Items: Remove enchantments from items. When you disenchant an item, you receive experience orbs based on the level and number of enchantments removed. Note that curse enchantments like Curse of Binding or Curse of Vanishing cannot be removed with a grindstone.
Why Craft a Grindstone?
Crafting a grindstone offers several advantages:
- Durability Management: Repairing damaged tools and armor extends their lifespan, saving you resources in the long run.
- Enchantment Control: Removing unwanted enchantments allows you to apply more desirable enchantments or simply clear up item clutter.
- Experience Farming: Disenchanting items provides a steady source of experience orbs, useful for enchanting other items.
- Villager Job Site: A placed grindstone will allow a non-job-site villager to assume the toolsmith profession.
Materials Required to Craft a Grindstone
To craft a grindstone, you will need the following materials:
- 2 Sticks
- 1 Stone Slab
- 2 Wooden Planks
Let’s break down how to obtain each of these materials:
1. Sticks
Sticks are one of the most basic and readily available resources in Minecraft. They are crafted from wooden planks.
How to Obtain Sticks:
- Obtain Wood: Chop down any type of tree to obtain wood logs.
- Convert to Planks: Place the wood logs in your crafting grid. Each log yields 4 wooden planks. The type of planks you get depends on the type of wood you used (e.g., oak planks from oak logs).
- Craft Sticks: Place two wooden planks vertically in your crafting grid. This will yield 4 sticks.
2. Stone Slab
A stone slab is a thinner variant of a stone block. It is created by processing stone blocks.
How to Obtain a Stone Slab:
- Obtain Stone: Mine stone blocks using a pickaxe. Stone is commonly found underground.
- Smelt Stone (if necessary): If you mined cobblestone (which is what you get when mining stone with a pickaxe that doesn’t have the Silk Touch enchantment), you need to smelt it in a furnace to obtain stone blocks. Place the cobblestone in the top slot of the furnace and fuel (e.g., coal, wood) in the bottom slot.
- Craft Stone Slab: Place three stone blocks in a horizontal row in your crafting grid. This will yield 6 stone slabs.
Alternative Stone Slab Options:
- Cobblestone Slab: You can craft cobblestone slabs instead by using cobblestone blocks in the crafting recipe.
- Other Stone Type Slabs: Depending on the biome you are in, you may have access to other stone types like Andesite, Diorite, or Granite. These can be crafted into slabs the same way as regular stone.
3. Wooden Planks
As mentioned earlier, wooden planks are crafted from wood logs. You’ll need to obtain more wood logs and convert them into planks.
How to Obtain Wooden Planks:
- Obtain Wood: Chop down any type of tree to obtain wood logs.
- Convert to Planks: Place the wood logs in your crafting grid. Each log yields 4 wooden planks. Choose whichever type of wood you prefer (oak, spruce, birch, etc.). Using the same wood type for the entire recipe is recommended for consistency.
Crafting the Grindstone
Now that you have all the necessary materials, you can craft the grindstone.
Crafting Recipe:
The crafting recipe for a grindstone is as follows. You must use the crafting table for this recipe as the 2×2 inventory crafting grid is insufficient.
- Top Row: Stick, Empty, Stick
- Middle Row: Wooden Plank, Stone Slab, Wooden Plank
- Bottom Row: Empty, Empty, Empty
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Open Crafting Table: Right-click on a crafting table to open its interface.
- Place Sticks: Place one stick in the top-left slot and another stick in the top-right slot. Leave the top-middle slot empty.
- Place Planks and Slab: Place one wooden plank in the middle-left slot, a stone slab in the middle-center slot, and another wooden plank in the middle-right slot.
- Craft the Grindstone: The grindstone will appear in the output slot. Click on it to move it to your inventory.
Using the Grindstone
Once you have crafted the grindstone, you can place it anywhere in the world and use it to repair or disenchant items.
Repairing Items
The grindstone can repair two identical damaged items, combining their durability into one.
How to Repair Items:
- Place the Grindstone: Place the grindstone in the world by right-clicking on a block.
- Open the Grindstone Interface: Right-click on the grindstone to open its interface.
- Place Items: Place two identical damaged items in the two input slots (the slots on the left and right sides of the grindstone interface). These items must be the exact same type, for example, two iron swords or two leather helmets. They cannot be stacked.
- Collect the Repaired Item: The repaired item will appear in the output slot (the center slot). Take the repaired item. This will also cost you a very small amount of experience.
Repair Mechanics:
- The repaired item’s durability will be the sum of the two original items’ durabilities plus an additional 5% bonus of the item’s maximum durability.
- The repair cost (in terms of experience levels) is usually lower than using an anvil to repair the same item.
Disenchanting Items
The grindstone can also remove enchantments from items, granting you experience orbs in return.
How to Disenchant Items:
- Place the Grindstone: Place the grindstone in the world by right-clicking on a block.
- Open the Grindstone Interface: Right-click on the grindstone to open its interface.
- Place the Item: Place the enchanted item in one of the input slots (either the left or right slot). The other slot must be empty.
- Collect the Disenchanted Item: The disenchanted item will appear in the output slot. It will be the same item but without any enchantments. Take the disenchanted item. Experience orbs will be released nearby, which you can collect by walking over them.
Disenchanting Mechanics:
- The amount of experience gained depends on the level and number of enchantments removed. Higher-level enchantments yield more experience.
- Curse enchantments (Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing) cannot be removed with a grindstone.
- The item’s prior work penalty is reset when disenchanted on the grindstone. This can be useful if you plan to enchant the item again with different enchantments.
Tips and Tricks for Using a Grindstone
- Location, Location, Location: Place your grindstone in a convenient location, such as near your crafting table, enchanting setup, or storage area.
- Mass Disenchanting: If you have a large number of enchanted items you want to disenchant, consider setting up a dedicated grindstone area to streamline the process.
- Prioritize Repairs: Regularly repair your most used tools and armor to extend their lifespan and avoid the need to craft replacements frequently.
- Experience Storage: Remember to have a way to safely store or spend your experience points after disenchanting, such as enchanting new items or repairing tools at an anvil. If you die, you will lose a portion of your collected experience.
- Be Careful with Valuable Enchantments: Double-check the item before disenchanting, as you cannot undo the process. You might accidentally remove a very useful enchantment.
- Villager Employment: Place a Grindstone in an area where you want villagers to work. If there are unemployed villagers nearby, one of them may become a toolsmith and claim the grindstone as their workstation. This is useful if you want to establish a toolsmith villager trading post.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Forgetting Identical Items for Repair: Make sure you are using two identical items when repairing. You cannot combine, for example, an iron sword and a diamond sword.
- Accidental Disenchanting: Be careful not to accidentally disenchant items with valuable enchantments. Double-check before placing items in the grindstone.
- Ignoring Curse Enchantments: Remember that Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing cannot be removed with a grindstone. You’ll need other methods (like dying with the item or breaking it) to get rid of these items.
- Not Collecting Experience: Make sure to collect the experience orbs after disenchanting. If you don’t, they will eventually disappear.
- Not Having Storage: Have a place to put the disenchanted items. Clearing inventory space is one thing, but you may need the raw materials from some items later on.
Grindstone vs. Anvil
Both the grindstone and the anvil are used for repairing items, but they have different mechanics and use cases.
Grindstone:
- Repairs two identical items.
- Removes enchantments.
- Generally lower repair cost.
- Cannot rename items.
Anvil:
- Can repair items using resources (e.g., iron ingots to repair an iron sword).
- Can combine enchantments from two different items.
- Can rename items.
- Repair cost increases with each use (work penalty).
When to Use Which:
- Use a grindstone when you want to repair two identical items or remove unwanted enchantments.
- Use an anvil when you want to repair an item using resources, combine enchantments, or rename an item.
Alternative Methods for Repairing Items
Besides the grindstone and anvil, there are a few other methods for repairing items, although they are more limited.
- Mending Enchantment: The Mending enchantment allows items to repair themselves using experience orbs gained from various activities. This is generally considered the best method for keeping valuable tools in good repair.
- Turtle Shell Helmet: While wearing a turtle shell helmet, you slowly regain breath underwater. If you are at full breath, any experience collected will instead repair the helmet’s durability.
Conclusion
The grindstone is a valuable tool in Minecraft for repairing items, removing enchantments, and providing a profession site for villagers. By following this guide, you should now be able to craft and use a grindstone effectively, extending the lifespan of your tools and armor, managing enchantments, and optimizing your gameplay. Happy crafting and good luck mining!