Books for model engineers

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Books for model engineers

This topic has 66 replies, 29 voices, and was last updated 4 July 2013 at 21:50 by clockworkhamster.

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10 August 2011 at 18:00 #73131
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
Hi There

I have just bought a copy of Watchmaking by George Daniels.

This book has long been out of print but has just been reprinted.

It is available from Amazon and is a superb book about high quality craftsmanship.

regards David

Edited By David Clark 1 on 10/08/2011 18:00:17
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10 August 2011 at 18:00 #30836
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
Books for model engineers
10 August 2011 at 18:32 #73136
NJH
Participant
@njh
Thanks for the link David – that is something else! I don’t think I have the eyesight, the right sized fingers or steady enough hands ( or indeed skill) to enter that arena ( although I see he uses a Myford – for the heavier work I suppose!) but nice to see an expert.

I will add that book to my Xmas “wish list”!

Regards

Norman
10 August 2011 at 19:54 #73143
chris stephens
Participant
@chrisstephens63393
Hi Guys,

If you like watch making and indeed like to watch a watch maker, may I recommend any of the you-tube videos from this chap; http://www.youtube.com/user/spahlow#g/u

If there is nothing worth watching on the idiot box, as usual, spend an evening watching a craftsman at work.

chriStephens
11 August 2011 at 10:03 #73179
Roger Woollett
Participant
@rogerwoollett53105
I have also recently been given Geoge Daniels book. I will never make a watch but the book is immensly practical and I am sure some of his techniques will come in handy one day. At under £30 from Amazon with free P&P it is fantastic value.

Another book I have aquired recently is “Wheel and Pinion Cutting in Horology” by J Malcom Wild. This is also a very practical book using methods and equipment within the capabilities of many model engineers. Although he is talking about cycloidal gears much of the book would also be relavent to involute. Like the Daniels book it is well written with lots of good illustrations.
11 August 2011 at 11:37 #73185
David Southwell ARPS
Participant
@davidsouthwellarps
Useful link this site is devoted to watchmaking: http://www.nawcc-index.net/HowToMake.php
11 August 2011 at 16:16 #73200
John Stevenson 1
Participant
@johnstevenson1
Impossible to have too many good books.

John S.
11 August 2011 at 16:42 #73203
chris stephens
Participant
@chrisstephens63393
Hi John,

You are not wrong there, provided they are of the real paper variety of course.

chriStephens
11 August 2011 at 17:34 #73205
NJH
Participant
@njh
Hi Chris

“…………..provided they are of the real paper variety”

Well………….

I really love my Kindle . Just the job for novels and, having a cover with built in light, I can read in the night without disturbing the boss. All those paperbacks bought and read once that used to line the bookcases are now gone! An additional benefit is the ability to load it with pdf files so that you can scan a diagram or page of text and carry it around to study at odd moments. It has the ability to enlarge print & drawings too. However.. for a reference book where you need to keep dodging around then not so good – but hey lots of room for those sorts of book in the bookcase now!

Regards

Norman
11 August 2011 at 21:05 #73218
ady
Participant
@ady
PDF is the way to go for big reference manuals because you can search through 1000 pages in a few seconds.

Up to 300 odd pages I like to have a “proper” book to read.
11 August 2011 at 23:27 #73222
chris stephens
Participant
@chrisstephens63393
Hi Norman,

I am glad you like your picture box, but had you thought what would happen if you you compared the results of accidentally sitting on your device and a paper-back. Or what about dropping the two in, say, the bath. From my point of view £6.95 for a WPS book compares very favourably to the 100 odd for the electronic form, should the worst happen.

Not that sitting on a book would do much harm, and as for dropping it on the floor….

Progress is all well and good, provided that there is some advantage to be gained. A real book will last for centuries but a kindle will most likely be a non-functioning museum exhibit in ten years, much like a Philips laser disc. Come the apocalypse, after the telephone sanitizers have been put up against the wall and shot, 78 records and books will still be able to be read, can you say the same thing for CDs or Kindles, oh, and as for all those pictures on digital cameras, well forget it.

Do I sound like a dinosaur, flat earth advocate well guilty as charged.

Now where did I leave my blackboard and chalk, I suppose they could be next to the box of candles?

chriStephens
11 August 2011 at 23:43 #73223
John Stevenson 1
Participant
@johnstevenson1
Chris,

It’s the same as that dinner you ate last week, it was nice at the time but where is it now ?

I have a kindle and like it but I know it’s a consumable, OK so £110 or whatever but I read a lot and a lot of these books are around £1 to £2 on kindle and £5 in paperback.

So I reckon in 2 – 3 years when it goes pear shaped I’ll be in front.

Having said that I still have boxes – literally of books I have read that needs to be got rid of, cheap fiction type, not text books. Worth next to nothing but it’s something I’m not now having to collect.

As regards dropping it in the bath, it’s too much trouble to move the coal out.

John S
12 August 2011 at 10:15 #73236
NJH
Participant
@njh
Hi Chris

……………”had you thought what would happen if you you compared the results of accidentally sitting on your device and a paper-back.”

Well I guess both would be a pain in the a**e !

As far a dropping either in the bath – I seldom have a bath – wait, wait ! – I nearly always have a shower – book of any sort not possible there!

John makes the cost advantage well but, for memory lane trips, digital books can be even cheaper. Many of the classics are either very cheap or free downloads i.e. the complete Sherlock Holmes – £0.75p, Pride & Predjuice – free etc.

Yes I have lots of books which I wouldn’t consider in electronic form – a collection of over 120 volumes of poetry ( useless on Kindle as who reads of book of poetry sequentially ?), a couple of shelves of photography, the same of engineering, lots of stuff studied and annotated, classics, general reference and ” favourites” which come out for a fond reunion from time to time.

For thrillers, and other light entertainment fiction of the “read once and forget ” variety the Kindle is supreme. Whats more just think of all those trees saved. ( bad luck for the jumble sales and charity shops though I suppose.

As far as longevity well I doubt that I will be concerned much in 30 yrs time!

Regards

Norman

Edited By NJH on 12/08/2011 10:16:27
12 August 2011 at 10:28 #73238
David Southwell ARPS
Participant
@davidsouthwellarps
You might find something of interest here. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128704 A reasonably comprehensive list of kindle hacks — a mixture ranging from the useful to inconsequential or useless — but interesting.

I certainly concur – I find the Kindle invaluable especially when travelling but not really very useful for technical stuff. I got the 3G version which is great provided the countries you visit are included in the package.

David

Edited By David Southwell ARPS on 12/08/2011 10:28:38
12 August 2011 at 10:56 #73241
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
Hi There

I bought a Kindle recently.

I wanted to read a book that was not in print in paperback but was only about £1.99 on Kindle.

I bought the Kindle and the book and it was well worth the money, about £114 for both.

I now have about 30 books on Kindle, all much cheaper than paperbacks and much more convenient.

I still have bookshelves filled with reference books though.

regards David
30 August 2011 at 07:03 #74180
John McNamara
Participant
@johnmcnamara74883
Hi All

Just noticed these books on my bookshelf. (4 Volumes)
“fundamentals of machine design” P Orlov

Translated from Russian… as far as I know there is no copyright.
I picked mine up in a second hand shop.

Unlike many textbooks on machine design each volume contains hundreds of pictorial examples graded good to bad….. In other words what you should not do as well as what you should do. Theory is also well covered. Very little reference to CNC…1980

Highly recommended.

There are a lot of references on the net here……….

Cheers

John
30 August 2011 at 08:17 #74185
ady
Participant
@ady
Both have their place.

The fundamental weakness with digital and the net is they are very volatile.

I used to visit some amazing homepage sites around 2000, the amount of people who had put their knowledge on a specific subject onto the net was mind boggling and made for hours of interesting reading.

Like Ron Chernich’s site, smaller, but there were literally hundreds of them covering an amazing breadth of subject matter.

……..all gone now.

Places like geocities erased vast quantities of human knowledge when the user didn’t bother updating etc.

So if it’s “important” get a hard copy, or at least get a copy onto your hard drive.

I have a 500gb drive piggybacked onto my 30gb main drive to grab anything useful because nothing ever lasts on the netty.

The big advantage of digital is you can search a 1000 page manual, or 10 books, in a few seconds.

Edited By ady on 30/08/2011 08:32:37
30 August 2011 at 08:28 #74187
ady
Participant
@ady
A handy search is a .pdf search

lathe .pdf

Then save the books you fancy.
2 September 2011 at 08:54 #74341
Niloch
Participant
@niloch
The Case for Working with Your Hands or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good by Matthew Crawford. ISBN 978-0-670-91874-4. Published in the USA as Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work.

The inspirational New York Times bestseller that revolutionizes our understanding of what a good working life can be.

Those of us who were/are dismayed at the loss of traditional craft subjects in schools will find plenty of ammunition here.

Crawford is a philosopher and mechanic having a Ph.D in political philosophy whilst also running an independent m/cycle repair shop.

A deep exploration of craftsmanship by someone with real hands-on knowledge. Quirky, surprising and moving. Richard Sennett
3 September 2011 at 10:34 #74387
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
Within reason you may post the name.

No links to Amazon etc.

regards David
3 September 2011 at 18:30 #74399
NJH
Participant
@njh
Hi David

Well I guess this post indicates that you are recovering. Hope you are feeling better – just take it easy man!

Regards

Norman
4 September 2011 at 16:08 #74447
The Merry Miller
Participant
@themerrymiller
The Case for Working with Your Hands or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good by Matthew Crawford. ISBN 978-0-670-91874-4. Published in the USA as Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work.

Niloch

I have sent a copy of this book to my grandson who fortunately gained an apprenticeship as a maintenance engineer the day before he learned of his yucky AS level results.

I hpoe he learns from it. He starts his job tomorrow morning.

I am secretly so pleased as I, likewise, started my apprenticeship as a maintenance engineer in 1953 and I haven’t regretted a single moment.

Also I now have somebody to leave my workshop to when I am eventually called instead of the wife flogging the lot off on Ebay!!!!

Len P.
8 November 2011 at 15:34 #77474
DAVID POWELL 4
Participant
@davidpowell4
We are saddened to report the death on Friday 21st October 2011 of
Dr George Daniels CBE, MBE, FBHI, widely regarded as the greatest watchmaker of his time.
Follow the link for more details.
8 November 2011 at 16:46 #77480
John Haine
Participant
@johnhaine32865
I’m sorry to hear the news that George Daniels has died. I found the book at my local library, and then bought a copy in 1999, so it hasn’t been out of print that long. As Dave Clark says it is a wonderful book, worth every penny not just for the text but also the illustrations.
30 December 2011 at 11:55 #80822
Ian S C
Participant
@iansc
David, an idea for future publication (if possible), don’t know if hes still with us or not, but the artials by Peter Spenlove – Spenlove in Model engineer from vol 145-3600 in 1979, to vol 201-4338 in 2008. are a mine of information, and should be in a book, and some could be run in ME, or MEW. Ian S C
Author

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