Tips or tricks for controlled cave ins?

[urmamasllama 0]

basically i want to create  caveins in a controlled setting to farm cobblestone. any advice?

[Temujen 31]

My biggest cave ins have been from accidentally clipping a support beam with a pickaxe....

 

So I'd suggest you setup a supported cave with a single vertical support beam in the center, holding up a 15x15 set of horizontal beams (center + 7 blocks in all cardinal directions).  Then collapse the center support, scream and run.

[Kittychanley 1,002]

Just find a nice cave and then start mining out the ceiling. However, don't get too used to this mechanic for farming cobblestone, since cave-ins will be deadly in build 77.

[urmamasllama 0]

more importantly how big should i make a man made cave (height width depth) before I plink at the ceiling

[VegasGoat 51]

Why do you need to farm cobblestone? You can combine 4 rocks to make cobblestone. Unless there's a difference between raw cobble and crafted?

[macrixen 3]

my guess is he is using the torch floor method... makes the cobble fall as drops which is quicker than mining tons of rock

[Kittychanley 1,002]

Why do you need to farm cobblestone? You can combine 4 rocks to make cobblestone. Unless there's a difference between raw cobble and crafted?

 

If you are making a large build out of cobblestone or brick, it can be a lot faster to farm cobblestone blocks, as they guarantee 4 rocks per block, whereas normal mining only has a chance of giving you 1-3 per block.

[Dano6655 7]

Can you be more specific about how deadly cave-ins will be in the next build? like do the falling cobble do 1000 damage or kill you no matter what or something?

 

also can't he still do that by covering himself with like a support beam?