Best reference book for a lathe novice

Hi Guys,
In your own experience, which is the go to book for a novice lathe user?
Thanks.
Garry

There are many books on lathe use and endless YT videos. But a good place to start is "Know your lathe"

Here is a link to a copy for you. Know your lathe.

There is also The Amatuers Lathe by L H Spary which goes into more detail.

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 25/09/2022 20:18:17

Hi Garry, I have started from scratch this year and found 'Lathework, A Complete Course' by Harold Hall to be brilliant. Also 'Lathework For Beginners' by Neil Wyatt (as advertised on this page!) is a very informative guide. I spent several months working my way through the projects in Harold Hall's book (and the same for Milling) before launching into my first project (Stuart single cylinder Oscillator) - I found it to be time extremely well spent, giving great insight into setting up and using the lathe; there is also the added bonus that you will end up with some very useful items such as a tailstock die holder. Best of luck, Steve

When I started using a lathe many years ago, I found 'Using the Small Lathe' by L.C. Mason very useful. It is available as a reprint now, not very expensive, from Teepublishing.

My copy is very well thumbed and nearly falling apart from use.

Neil

Plus one for Len Mason's delightful little book; there is a companion work - Building a Small Lathe.

Plus one for Len Mason's book. It starts from the basis that any lathe is better than none starting with treadle power !. He uses a Myford but the ideas are relevant to any small lathe

Brian

Plus another one for Len Mason's books.

Peter G. Shaw

Thanks Oldiron, that’s really helpful.

I’ll pick up a couple of reference books as recommended on my return home, thanks for the help guys.

Garry

It's nice to sit down and read a book but when many 'how to use a lathe' type books were first published we did not have the internet.

A single Youtube video can demonstrate something that might confusing in a book at first so read about it and then search for a video to see it in action

If you have a modern Chinese lathe, MEW editor Neil Wyatt's book Lathework for Beginners may be more relevant. See the Arc Eurotrade ad at the top right corner of the forum page.

Just be careful with online videos - there's an awful lot of really good, helpful stuff out there, but there's also some duff and even bordeline dangerous demonstrations by people who have little real experience. As with everything on the internet - be very selective and don't just accept everything as gospel!

With a book, at least you have a pretty good idea that whoever wrote it knows what they are talking about, as the whole process is long winded and costly up front compared to somebody just up to make a quick YT vid with a wobbly camera set up and elevator muzak!

This forum will provide loads of informed info as and when you come across specific issues, just search here first before going straight to YT

All the best, Mike