Create Wiki · Kinetics

Hand Crank and Valve Handle

The Hand Crank is the very first source of rotation in Create: no water or wind needed, you do the turning. It is enough to test a machine, open a mechanical door or nudge a contraption a few blocks. Its copper cousin, the Valve Handle, does not spin continuously: it rotates whatever it drives by a precise angle, which is perfect for mechanisms.

Create 6.0.8 · Minecraft 1.21.1 · updated on

A Hand Crank placed on a cogwheel drives a small network and a speedometer, first in one direction, then in the other.

Quick facts

Category
Kinetics (source)
Speed
32 RPM while you hold right-click
Capacity
8 SU per RPM, i.e. 256 SU at 32 RPM
Hunger
0.32 exhaustion per use (crankHungerMultiplier = 0.01)
Valve Handle
Same speed and capacity, turns by a set angle from −180° to 180°
Version
Create 6.0.8 · Minecraft 1.21.1

Crafting table recipe

PlanksPlanksPlanks
Andesite Alloy

→ 1 Hand Crank

Placing and connecting the crank

A Hand Crank sitting on a cogwheel above a plate, next to a speedometer

The Hand Crank attaches to a block and outputs its rotation through its back, like the end of a shaft: put it on a cogwheel, a shaft or straight onto a machine. The game turns it towards a neighbouring kinetic block by itself; sneak while placing to simply stick it on the face you are aiming at.

Right-click: rotation one way

The crank turns and the speedometer shows the network spinning

Keep right-click pressed while aiming at the crank: it spins at 32 RPM and drives the whole network behind it. Each use keeps it turning for half a second, so keep the button pressed. As soon as you let go, the rotation stops.

Its capacity is 8 SU per RPM, so 256 SU: enough for one Mechanical Press at 32 RPM, but not two.

Sneaking: rotation the other way

The crank turns the other way and the network follows

To reverse it, crouch while pressing right-click: the crank then turns the other way. It is the only Create source whose direction you flip on the fly, which is great for pushing a Mechanical Piston or a gantry forward and back.

Cranking is tiring: every use costs 0.32 exhaustion, a bit like sprinting. For a machine that has to run for a long time, move on to a water wheel or a windmill.

What the Hand Crank is really good for

For a factory, the crank runs out of steam fast: you have to stand next to it, and its 256 SU are gone after a single machine. It shines elsewhere: testing a build before you install a proper source, driving a contraption on demand (a drawbridge on a Mechanical Piston, a sliding door on a gantry, a lift on a pulley), or starting a small production line early on, before you have enough Andesite Alloy for a water wheel.

It also works with cogwheels: behind a ×2 stage it gives 64 RPM, but machines use twice as much stress at that speed: the capacity stays at 256 SU.

The Valve Handle: turning by an exact angle

A Valve Handle drives a bearing and its arm: each use turns the arm by a set angle, one way or the other, then the handle is dyed blue.

The Copper Valve Handle is placed and connected like the crank, with the same speed and capacity. The difference: a click does not keep it spinning, it rotates the network by a set angle and then stops. In the animation, it drives a Mechanical Bearing whose arm turns by exactly the chosen angle.

Setting the angle and triggering it

The arm on the bearing has swung by a quarter turn after a click on the handle

The angle is set on the handle's value panel, from −180° to 180° in steps of 45°. A right-click then triggers one turn of that angle, and a sneaking right-click triggers it the other way. With a bearing, remember to set it so it does not disassemble when it stops, otherwise your structure falls back into blocks after every move.

Dyeing the handle

The Valve Handle has turned blue after a click with blue dye

Clicking with a dye changes the handle's colour (sixteen colours). It is purely cosmetic, but useful to tell which handle controls what on a control panel.

Common mistakes

  • The crank turns but nothing follows: it is not attached to the block it should drive, or it touches a face without an axis. Put it straight on a cogwheel or on the end of a shaft.
  • The machine stalls: 256 SU is not enough. A press at 32 RPM takes all of it, and so do a mixer and a fan together.
  • The arm on a bearing falls apart with the Valve Handle: the bearing disassembles when it stops, so change its mode.
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Sources for the numbers (Create 6.0.8 code)
  • Speed: HandCrankBlock.getRotationSpeed() = 32; HandCrankBlockEntity.turn (inUse = 10 ticks), getGeneratedSpeed (direction from sneaking)
  • Capacity: AllBlocks.java, HAND_CRANK and COPPER_VALVE_HANDLE, CStress.setCapacity(8.0)
  • Hunger: HandCrankBlock.useItemOn, causeFoodExhaustion(32 × CKinetics.crankHungerMultiplier = 0.01)
  • Valve Handle: ValveHandleBlock extends HandCrankBlock; ValveHandleBlockEntity.angleInput.between(-180, 180), set in steps of 45
  • Recipes: crafting/kinetics/hand_crank.json, copper_valve_handle.json (3 Copper Sheets + Andesite Alloy), *_valve_handle_from_other_valve_handle.json
  • Scenes: KineticsScenes.handCrank and valveHandle

Original texts and animations by Create France, rendered from the mod's Ponder scenes. Create is a mod by the Create Team, not affiliated with Create France.