Question about ME and smelting items only upon request.

[TimB]

Should seem like a simple question, but...

What options are there to get the ME system to only send items to be smelted, liquid transposed, crushed, etc etc *only* when a ME crafting request needs it?

For example: If I submit a crafting request using a ME crafting pattern for an impregnated frame, how can I get the ME system to *only* send wood to the carpenter to fulfill the crafting request, without producing more than what is required?

I'm trying to find the best way to do this because of several reasons, such as I don't want ALL my quartz dust to be smelted into silicon, since there are other recipes that use the dust. With ME buses, it will send *all* dust to the smelter unless I manually switch the bus off. I want to avoid having to flip any additional switches, and ultimately, simply tell the ME system to craft something and it will do so as long as there are materials.

I'm going to start messing with LP to see if that will help, but figured I would ask here for expert opinions.

[dwwojcik]

If you hook up your sawmill (for example) with an ME Interface, when your system tries to craft something that requires wooden planks but can't find any it will automatically utilize the sawmill.

[TimB]

I finally figured out, somewhat. Yea, dwwojcik, that's what I ended up learning- the ME interface handles this pretty well.

This video was what ended up answering my question:

Now, would it be better to place these interfaces near my ME system, compacting several interfaces close together, or interface them near the machines that are doing the work? I like to keep everything organized and compact.

[dwwojcik]

You'll need 1 interface per machine, directly next to it.

[TimB]

Awesome. Thank you... and one last question. Does this method work with ender chests, or will LP be needed?

[dwwojcik]

I'm pretty sure it works with any block with an inventory. I've seen an ME Interface put items into a chest, so I doubt ender chests would be a problem.

[TimB]

Well, I'm using ender chests in order to fulfill crafting requests that are not local/close to the main ME system.

However, the issue with using ME interfaces and export/import or storage buses is that they need to be physically connected to the ME network for the ME crafting requests to reach those remote ME interfaces.

I may have to end up using LP to work with remote machinery, and use an ender chest next to an ME interface local to the ME network. Any ideas?