Water Wheel

Free, continuous rotation from flowing water. It's the first source that can actually run machines.

Crafting

P P P
P S P
P P P

P is any Planks and S is a Shaft.

Using it

Place it with flowing water against it. Its axle runs along the face you place it on, and shafts connect at either end of the axle.

Speed depends on how many sides have moving water against them: 4 RPM per side, up to 16 RPM with all four. The two axle ends don't count. It needs to be flowing water: still source blocks don't push it.

Where you put it matters. A wheel set into a running stream with water on several faces is worth much more than one dipped in a trickle.

How much it can drive

A water wheel is strong: 256 Su. It can carry three Mechanical Hammers (80 each), but not four. Put more wheels on the same line to carry more.

It's heavy, so a network with a water wheel on it is slow to spin up (about two seconds) but steady once it's going, and it coasts a long way when disconnected. A Flywheel is the same weight.

Notes

• Its speed wanders with the water, which is why a Timer run off a water wheel doesn't always give the same result twice.