Which books

[merlinParticipant @merlin98989]

When I first bought a lathe I wondered what do do with it, what direction to go. I settled on the writings and works of Geoge H. Thomas. I spend the first year or two making tools to his designs and following his 'words and music', all in 'Model Engineer' or M.E.W.

I used scraps bits of metal and bought only two or three rough castings.

No regrets.

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

To learn lathework. milling Welding etc from a professional Abom79 on Youtube is a very good starting point, Most of the work he does is industrial so rather large but the same rules apply to the small workshop.

You can search youtube for Machinists to find many more… some good some not so good.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

I'm a big fan of George H. Thomas's books and articles too. He knew his stuff (machinist by trade I believe) and wrote clearly and in an engaging manner.

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

Just to add to what John mentioned with youtube , one of the best channels for the beginner is " that lazy machinists " – i have watched many hundreds of videos on machining and as far as i'm concerned the videos by Marc on his channel are the best for a beginner probably followed by mr pete 222 and guess what they were both metalwork / shop teachers !

Model engineering a foundation course by Peter Wright is a pretty good jumping off point before moving on to more dedicated literature for the lathe or mill .

What if find a lot is many want to read a book or watch a video about using a lathe or mill but forget the basics that should be learned first – things like

Workshop safety .

Basic marking out .

Measuring .

Cutting , filing and shaping by hand .

Drilling and tapping threads .

The lathe or mill should be an extension of your skills – not replace them !

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Now that 'books' has developed to embrace YouTube …I recommend this:

Improving the vertex rotary table – Part 1

**LINK**

.

I have just started watching this set of videos, and it promises to cover a lot of useful ground.

MichaelG.

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Thank you for all the tips reference u tube I have found many which I have found most interesting. But I do enjoy a good old fashioned paper copy to read especially for bed time reading.

At present I am collecting some of the smaller hand tools many that I already have are from my days as a plant mechanic as well as some of the smaller ones from modelling model boats which is where my wanting to go into live steam.

How I ended up doing woodwork as a hobby I don't know and like model engineering the list of tools required seems to get longer rather than shorter.

As they say a long and slippery slope ahead

Posted by merlin on 14/08/2018 17:48:21:

When I first bought a lathe I wondered what do do with it, what direction to go. I settled on the writings and works of Geoge H. Thomas. I spend the first year or two making tools to his designs and following his 'words and music', all in 'Model Engineer' or M.E.W.

I used scraps bits of metal and bought only two or three rough castings.

No regrets.

I already seem to be collecting pieces of metal purely for the use of practicing with

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

The only scrap metal in the world is either too small to hold, or is already in the form of swarf!

Even short lengths can be made into spacers.

Anything else "Will come in handy", one day (which may be years ahead!)

My disease has now been officially recognised ; hoarding!

Howard

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 17/08/2018 20:59:42:

The only scrap metal in the world is either too small to hold, or is already in the form of swarf!

Even short lengths can be made into spacers.

Anything else "Will come in handy", one day (which may be years ahead!)

My disease has now been officially recognised ; hoarding!

Howard

You want to see my wood pile even small pieces get put to use

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

Just stumbled on this 1928 book

If you google

internet archive philosophy nicholson

Old but a great reference on filing.

Regards
John

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

Re YouTube, most people are familiar with Stefan the German's channel. I just, via him, came across RobRenz.. This man is very very good. Interesting, technically clever, good camera work, great channel.

If you like humour thrown in, check out This Old Tony.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

I have most of the ones mentioned and the workshop series. As a reference i have to say that i will have used techniques from most of them over the years.

All good recomendations. Join a club as well if there is one local to you.

Bri

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by John McNamara on 18/08/2018 03:58:26:

Just stumbled on this 1928 book

internet archive philosophy nicholson

Old but a great reference on filing.

.

Thanks, John

That's a welcome addition to my digital library **LINK**

https://archive.org/details/NicholsonFilePhilosophy1928

MichaelG.

.

Note: the book title is wittier than the document name

… Oh, the joy of ambiguity !!

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Ther are lots of good stuff on YT but my favourite is " Old Time Steam Workshop " by David Richards, an example of a 1925 machine shop powered by steam and lineshafts, proper old school and a joy to watch go on fellas treat yourselves

Mick

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Deleted

Mick

 

 

Edited By Mick Henshall on 18/08/2018 09:45:59

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

And deleted again– groan!

Mick

 

 

Edited By Mick Henshall on 18/08/2018 09:47:31

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Sorry for double tap must be the alcohol

Mick

[IanTParticipant @iant]

Most of the well known YouTubers (wrt machine work) have been mentioned but I haven't seen any reference to Joe Pieczynski – who is a professional machinist from Texas. Well worth watching – certainly knows what he's talking about, with many useful ideas and tips to help improve your work – recommended.

Regards,

IanT

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

Posted by IanT on 18/08/2018 10:10:06:

Most of the well known YouTubers (wrt machine work) have been mentioned but I haven't seen any reference to Joe Pieczynski – who is a professional machinist from Texas. Well worth watching – certainly knows what he's talking about, with many useful ideas and tips to help improve your work – recommended.

Regards,

IanT

Will check him out thanx.

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

I have found some great U tubers but luckily I am also able to know which are not worth watching. I think it is called common sense

[Author]

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