Hellevator

A Hellevator (or Hellvator), is Terraria jargon for a mine shaft from the surface to The Underworld. Usually at the bottom of a Hellevator is Water or Cobweb, since it removes fall damage, but another way you can successfully survive is by using a Grappling Hook, Cloud in a Bottle or Ivy Whip; although these methods require precise activation to avoid fall damage. A Lucky Horseshoe or Rocket Boots are also favorable because the former negates all fall thumb|left|400px|ADMIN HeroGamingdamage while the latter is able to prevent it with a bit of hovering; however, it can be more difficult to find these than a Grappling Hook. Another useful method to lessen fall damage in the Hellevator is to place cobwebs at strategic points. They will slow a player's fall and prevent damage, but caution must be taken, as the cobwebs can be easily removed by the careless swing of a weapon.

An alternative, although time consuming, method is to place wood platforms all along the Hellevator. If placed at intervals that are under the falling damage threshold, one simply has to hold 'down' (S key), and they will proceed down the Hellevator quickly without taking falling damage. One advantage of this is the ability to stop at points of interest along the way (for Glowing Mushroom harvesting, as an example). Another advantage is the ability to easily stop along the way to find bodies of water. Draining water into your Hellevator will help create Obsidian barriers on the lava pools often found just above The Underworld, however, as of patch 1.0.5, it is much harder to get water into the Underworld. One method is to create a hellevator near the edge of the map (but not at) inside the ocean and drain water consistently into the depths. A great deal of the water will evaporate but you can eventually pool against lava for obsidian farming.

Water Docks
Water docks are used in hellevators to prevent water from travelling with you all the way to hell. The lower part can easily be taken out to let the water flow, and maybe end up in lava, becoming an efficient way to farm Obsidian.

To build a vertical water dock, just start digging stone at one of the sides (right or left) parallel to the water tunnel, letting an air vent so the water can't keep going. Next, keep digging following the path of your water tunnel, this way you'll be holding all the water all the time you want. By removing the lower part of the dock, you can open and close the dock, letting all or just part of the water flow.

Liquid Filling
Liquid Filling is a process where you destroy the existing liquid in the way of your hellevator in order to continue straight down with nothing in your way. It works with lava as well as water (but as of 1.0.6, you can't place blocks in lava.)To liquid fill, just place any block of material (stone, dirt, mud, etc.) in the liquid you are trying to hellevate through. After you place a row of blocks in the liquid below you, simply mine downward and the liquid will be gone. Sand can be used to quickly fill in the columns below your platform, but is not recommended for use as the walls of the shaft when going through liquid. Doing so risks flooding the shaft if a mistake is made, and replacing it with some sturdier and less dangerous material is tricky.