• To get redstone, you crush cinnabar with the crushing wheels
• the crushing wheels are crafted with the mechanical crafters
• mechanical crafters require electron tubes
• electron tubes require polished rose quartz
• polished rose quarts requires rose quartz
• rose quartz requires quartz and redstone.

It is incredibly painful to get redstone ( killing witches, silk touch and furnace, etc ) otherwise. Is this intentional.

redstone is obtained by polishing rough cinnabar on a grindstone