Just got on to the Minecraft server on which I play, with Tinker's Construct newly-enabled, and within 20 minutes, I've used it to hoodwink GregTech's stupid-ass requirements for making steel. That is to say that GT requires a multiblock machine that takes tier 2 IC2 power to make the shit, plus the power to pulverize the coal and smelt the iron into refined iron. The Tinker's Construct does cost twice as much in the way of coal, but it produces steel on the cheap, and is very easy to automate and work with.