I have fucking unlimited wood now, which is such a nice change from wandering the land looking for wood every day when I run out of the previous stack. I made one of these bad boys underground last night:
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Tree_farm#80.25_efficiency_farming
Chombo pointed out that birch wood might work better, so I will probably try that at some point too. But with that setup, I can essentially just sit in the room and harvest trees forever, replanting saplings as I go, and they are just constantly sprouting up. sprinkle a bit of bonemeal in if it slows down, but jesus!
I also started a branch mine and could use some tips. Im making my shafts 2x2 because that seemed easy, what size do you usually use? would 3x3 be more efficient? I've settled in to keeping a door with me and when I run into a mineshaft or something i'll wall off my mine and put up a door and some lights so I know where to come back to, and it also keeps any creeps out of my otherwise completely sealed underground area! I had a couple panic moments where I was digging something out near my main crafting area and had some exploding creeps come way too close to my chests, but I survived that brief heart attack.
My main concern now is that my mineshafts go a LONG ways and i could be unknowingly intruding on other people's territory, albeit way the fuck underground in their territory! Have started trying to map out where i'm at in dynmap at the ends of my tunnels. There are some long ass sprints down there!