How to grind things into powder (Bones, grain, etc)

[WaywardWarlord]

Hi all - 
 

I am new at the game and just picked it up yesterday. I was having trouble figuring out how to make things into powder. Is the only way to do this with mechanical power?

Thanks!

[Echo Weaver]

27 minutes ago, WaywardWarlord said:

Hi all - 
 

I am new at the game and just picked it up yesterday. I was having trouble figuring out how to make things into powder. Is the only way to do this with mechanical power?

Thanks!

You don't need mechanical power to build a quern, but you do need to have achieved copper smithing -- querns require a pickaxe and a chisel to craft. 

Once you have one, you can fill it with something that needs to be ground and then right-click the quern to grind it manually.

[WaywardWarlord]

2 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

You don't need mechanical power to build a quern, but you do need to have achieved copper smithing -- querns require a pickaxe and a chisel to craft. 

Once you have one, you can fill it with something that needs to be ground and then right-click the quern to grind it manually.

Thanks!

[Maelstrom]

Some things (particularly chalk and lime) can be made into powder using a hammer.

[Echo Weaver]

3 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Some things (particularly chalk and lime) can be made into powder using a hammer.

Yeah, I see a bunch of mods wandering by on ModDB that restore the ability to crush various things with a hammer. I'm completely lost on what you can still crush with a hammer in vanilla.