Thread: Workshop Practice Series books

Thanks for starting the thread Mike

I have 3 of Harold halls books, lathework and milling the complete courses (no 34 & 35) and his tool sharpening book (no 38). The sharpening book overlaps with the milling book a bit, a similar grinding rest is outlined as well as the same attachments for sharpening drills, endmills etc. The sharpening book is more thorough however. Halls writing style is easy to read and he provides plenty of good drawings an b&w pics.
I also have Ivan laws book on gear cutting(no 17). This is a very good book for those who wish to cut there own gears, spur and bevel, and even goes into how to make gear cutters and jobs with the correct involute curves. It is however a very math heavy book and not something you can put down in any place and just come back to. He has good drawings but very few rather poor pics.

Originally Posted by morrisman

I spotted this one and I wonder if it's a worthwhile read ?

Spindles : Comprehensive Guide to Making Light Milling or Grinding Spindles with a Small Lathe by Sandhu, Harprit S.

I have that one. I was disappointed that it failed to go into any detail about bearings. It does give an overview of spindle design and plans for a number of specific (small) units. If you want more detail I'll dig it out.

Originally Posted by Bryan

I have that one. I was disappointed that it failed to go into any detail about bearings. It does give an overview of spindle design and plans for a number of specific (small) units. If you want more detail I'll dig it out.

Thanks for that .

Maybe we should identify the books by their number in the series eg.

Number 2 . Vertical milling in the home workshop . I found this book to be outdated , it was written in the 1970's I think. Many of the machines in the book are older British makes . I'm no expert by any standard , but I feel that it wasn't an ideal book from a contemporary beginners point of view . Mike

Hi all I would just like to point out that these books can be had from the local libraries,I have had most of them out at one time or another you can then see if you are getting the right information without laying money and postage,I f it is what you are looking for then Its worth getting the book..

A good few of the series have a lot to offer ,but some seem to leave out that little bit
that clears up some little part that you really wanted mostto help. Hope I havent
interupted any conversation.

Eddie..

Not having any of these books my comments are probably not relevant,but I feel to disregard a volume or book due to the age of machines would be unwise.
Most books written before nc,cnc or indexable carbide would still cover the basics of machining,which a lot of people on this forum lack.
The main problem I can see with the books is peoples belief that what is written is set in stone.

Originally Posted by morrisman

Thanks for that .

Maybe we should identify the books by their number in the series eg.

Number 2 . Vertical milling in the home workshop . I found this book to be outdated , it was written in the 1970's I think. Many of the machines in the book are older British makes . I'm no expert by any standard , but I feel that it wasn't an ideal book from a contemporary beginners point of view . Mike

Why would the fact that the machines used in this book date back to the 70s make them less valuable than if they were todays' machines.

From what I can see todays' machines don't vary that much from the older ones and certainly the milling techniques haven't changed a hell of a lot.

On top of that I seem to remember that you have 1 or 2 machines from that era or even older in your shed?

I for one learned quite a bit from this book and still refer to it regularly. YMMV

Fred do you think it would help search-ability is the subject said Workshop Practice series? I believe that's the correct title and probably what people would search for.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Why would the fact that the machines used in this book date back to the 70s make them less valuable than if they were todays' machines.

From what I can see todays' machines don't vary that much from the older ones and certainly the milling techniques haven't changed a hell of a lot.

On top of that I seem to remember that you have 1 or 2 machines from that era or even older in your shed?

I for one learned quite a bit from this book and still refer to it regularly. YMMV

I guess what I was refering to is that back then the hobby maching scene was quite different to today eg , the internet and at the click of a button , the plethora of tooling avialable at reasonable cost to us now . Yes the basic principles are the same but the machines are not eg the asian machines many of us have .

Anyway I better shut up as I seem to put my foot in it too often ! But the more experienced forum members have to consider that some of us on this forum are beginners eg. before I bought the Sheraton lathe , the last time I got close to a lathe was in high school circa 1970 , and that amounted to cleaning it , not using it . MIKE

Originally Posted by morrisman

I guess what I was refering to is that back then the hobby maching scene was quite different to today eg , the internet and at the click of a button , the plethora of tooling avialable at reasonable cost to us now . Yes the basic principles are the same but the machines are not eg the asian machines many of us have .

Anyway I better shut up as I seem to put my foot in it too often ! But the more experienced forum members have to consider that some of us on this forum are beginners eg. before I bought the Sheraton lathe , the last time I got close to a lathe was in high school circa 1970 , and that amounted to cleaning it , not using it . MIKE

Mike, I must admit I raised my eyebrows when you made that statement about machines from the 70s, don't know about putting your foot in though.

Most of this book is about milling techniques rather than milling machines and I find that these haven't changed much for an amatuer like me, therefore I have learned a lot from this book.

Are ther better books on milling around? Perhaps, but I haven't seen any. Look at the 3 volume TAFE set of books on Fitting and Machining, they started in the 70s and haven't changed that much.

I have a Chinese mill (DM45) and the techniques shown in this book work just as well on my machie, using basically the same tooling they use in the book.

Anyway, I would certainly not rank myself amongst the "more experienced" members of this forum, I am a rank beginner, never took up metal work until 2 or 3 years ago.

Originally Posted by Bryan

Fred do you think it would help search-ability is the subject said Workshop Practice series? I believe that's the correct title and probably what people would search for.

If Mike doesn't object I will change the title of his thread to Workshop Practice Series books.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

If Mike doesn't object I will change the title of his thread to Workshop Practice Series books.

yes please do that

Originally Posted by morrisman

yes please do that

Done.

I have a number of these books. Some have been more useful to me than others but for the price I have no complaints. I have the following books:

Milling a complete course No. 35
Vertical milling in the home workshop No.2
Screwcutting in the lathe No.3
Lathework a complete course No.34
Gears and gear cutting No.17
Hardening tempering and heat treatment No.1

Since I'm new to metalwork I have found them to be of at least some value. Some are quite technical and require several reads. Gears and gear cutting has been very interesting but I have needed to read it over several times as I have found it quite technical. Same same with Hardening, tempering and heat treatment. That is probably a subject quite worthy of it's own bible so the 120 odd pages is no doubt a very basic look at the subject but still quite technical but worth a read for someone like me who know little on the subject.

Some of the milling books tend to overlap. I find Harold Hall's writing style very easy to read but having several books from different authors is also a good thing. Some of the techniques may or may not be outdated but I still enjoy the read even from a purely historical point of view.

I'm waiting another book in the mail: Workholding in the lathe. At $10.90 delivered I have no issues buying such a book. They are always useful to come back to and if ever my skills get to a point where these books offer nothing to me then I'll be happy to pass them onto some other newbie.

Simon

Originally Posted by morrisman

I spotted this one and I wonder if it's a worthwhile read ?

Spindles : Comprehensive Guide to Making Light Milling or Grinding Spindles with a Small Lathe by Sandhu, Harprit S.: 9781854861498 - European-Media-Service

I'd say so.

Jordan