OK, since you "called me out", I'll elaborate a bit more on the mesh blasting 😀 By using the steel mesh ceilings at first 4 meters and then at 8 meters of height, I get a completely smooth tunnel in the first try. None of those jagged rocks everywhere, and the manual cleanup is next to zero. Whatever minute stuff hangs onto the slopes, I use the gridsnap option, place the RDX BELOW the hangup (not touching the material), and kablammo, more stuff in the hoppers. Admittedly, I am not blasting my tunnels to the height that you do, they top out at 12 meters above the conveyors. So the proces is as follows: 1. Drill with the TBM, putting down conveyors in front of the TBM as the tunnel gets drilled. 2. Place 1 wall and then sloped wall on top along the belts. (my preference, your milage may vary). Blow up any stuff on the conveyors with RDX free place mode. 3. When ready to rig the mine for blasting, place 1 wire mesh wall (to get up to 4m height) and then place the ceilings below the hanging wall. I normally skip a row between charges, as RDX has a 4m blast radius. (so 1-0-1-0-1 etc, 1's being loaded, 0's = no charges). This way I also know exactly how much danger putty has been put up 😉 4. Take all the mesh pieces down, retreat to a somewhat safe distance, grab your socks and hit the funny button. 5. Rinse and repeat at 8 meters. Yes, it is a bit more work to place the charges, but I like the way my tunnels look. At the end of the day, this is your playthrough, and if you are happy doing it this way, by all means keep on trucking. Sorry about the wall of text, it is complicated to explain things in writing and not come off as a complete douche canoe 😀 Happy blasting!
the self imposed rules i do for blast mining is i can use the pickaxe for the moonrocks and the leftovers on the ramps. rest has to be done by vehicles or explosives. I usually place as many ramps as possible after each blast while the washplant gets ready to absorb more.
OK, since you "called me out", I'll elaborate a bit more on the mesh blasting 😀 By using the steel mesh ceilings at first 4 meters and then at 8 meters of height, I get a completely smooth tunnel in the first try. None of those jagged rocks everywhere, and the manual cleanup is next to zero. Whatever minute stuff hangs onto the slopes, I use the gridsnap option, place the RDX BELOW the hangup (not touching the material), and kablammo, more stuff in the hoppers.
Admittedly, I am not blasting my tunnels to the height that you do, they top out at 12 meters above the conveyors.
So the proces is as follows:
1. Drill with the TBM, putting down conveyors in front of the TBM as the tunnel gets drilled.
2. Place 1 wall and then sloped wall on top along the belts. (my preference, your milage may vary). Blow up any stuff on the conveyors with RDX free place mode.
3. When ready to rig the mine for blasting, place 1 wire mesh wall (to get up to 4m height) and then place the ceilings below the hanging wall. I normally skip a row between charges, as RDX has a 4m blast radius. (so 1-0-1-0-1 etc, 1's being loaded, 0's = no charges). This way I also know exactly how much danger putty has been put up 😉
4. Take all the mesh pieces down, retreat to a somewhat safe distance, grab your socks and hit the funny button.
5. Rinse and repeat at 8 meters.
Yes, it is a bit more work to place the charges, but I like the way my tunnels look.
At the end of the day, this is your playthrough, and if you are happy doing it this way, by all means keep on trucking.
Sorry about the wall of text, it is complicated to explain things in writing and not come off as a complete douche canoe 😀
Happy blasting!
I had this happen to me aswell. i spent like 6 hours with an excavator and floaty floors clearing around the RDX.
the self imposed rules i do for blast mining is i can use the pickaxe for the moonrocks and the leftovers on the ramps. rest has to be done by vehicles or explosives. I usually place as many ramps as possible after each blast while the washplant gets ready to absorb more.
Oh wow!
Couldnt you also just have mined out some rocks with the pickaxe to remove some of the dirt lag?
I think so. I just need more self control when they hand me the boom sticks. Hahaha