Minecraft wiki entry for Stonecutter, associated text: The stonecutter can be used as an alternative to the crafting table to craft most stone related blocks. All of its recipes require just one ingredient and produces one product (in varying quantities). It allows skipping steps to craft certain blocks: for example, a stone block can be directly turned into chiseled stone bricks, but requiring multiple steps with crafting. Recipes for stairs are also more efficient than their crafting counterparts: on a crafting table, 6 stone blocks are crafted into 4 stairs, while stonecutter yields 1 stair per stone block.