Editing Do I really need wood

You may want to have a look at the [[Wood Industry]].

==Reasons you need wood==
*To build [[bed]]s
**Without beds your dwarves will get unhappy thoughts from sleeping on the ground
*To build [[axle]]s
**Without axles your ability to transfer [[power]] is severely limited.
*To build [[water wheel]]s and [[windmill]]s
**These are the only generators of [[power]]. Without them, you'll be forced to do everything manually.
*If you want [[obsidian]] [[short sword]]s, they require one obsidian stone and one wood each (for a handle and scabbard, apparently).
**If you have access to obsdian, these can be a great source of quick weaponry early in the game, before any steel works are up to speed.  Even on a tree-lite map, each weapon takes less wood to produce than a steel weapon (unless you are using [[magma]] to fuel your [[smelter]]s and [[forge]]s).

==Reasons you want wood==
*It is simpler to make items from wood.
**For instance, it only takes one log to produce a [[bin]], [[barrel]], or [[bucket]]; but if you forge them instead then they'll take three metal bars.
*Wood can be burnt to produce [[ash]] and [[charcoal]], which are important ingredients in other tasks such as smelting ore, forging metal items, and glass making.
*All power generators are built with wood. If you are planning on having any sort of automated assembly, or just don't want to have to do everything by hand, then you're going to need wood.

==Reasons you don't need much wood==
*Everything other than beds, axles, windmills, and water wheels can be made from other materials.
*If you have [[magma]] or a [[coal]] seam then you don't need to burn wood for charcoal.
*You can supplement your wood supply via [[trading]].
*If you're lucky enough to play in an area with an [[underground pool]] or [[underground river]] then you can grow your own wood supply underground.


{{Wood FAQ}}