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Books for beginers

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alan w13/10/2009 20:38:13
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19 forum posts
Hi follks As a  complete beginer to model engineering can anyone suggest a good book to explain how to set up my lathe and some simple projects to get me started. I have a variable speed lathe from Chester.
I have a book by  Harold Hall- Lathework a complete course  but I think i need something more basic (must be thick isuppose )
Thanks in advance Alan
Martin Cottrell13/10/2009 21:25:03
297 forum posts
18 photos
Hi Alan,
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of Model Engineering! It's very difficult to recommend any one book which will get you started and it also depends on your current level of competence and also equipment! However, I can list a few titles which have been invaluable to me.
 
The Amateur's Workshop by Ian Bradley
Model Engineering, A Foundation Course by Peter Wright
Workshop Techniques & The Model Engineers Workshop Manual by George Thomas.
 
These four titles have helped me enormously when learning to set up and start using my lathe and milling machine and also include lots of projects, some simple and some more advanced, to start building the extensive range of tooling and machining aids which you will inevitably require as your needs progress! There is also a vast range of titles in the Workshop Practice series of inexpensive booklets which deal in more detail with specific elements of the hobby such as tool sharpening, gear cutting, etc. I find I am constantly adding to my library sometimes to help with a specific project and sometimes because something looks interesting and might develop into a future project!
 
I started out with just an inherent interest in all things mechanical since I was a small boy and that was all I needed. I am completely self taught just buying books as and when required & subscribing to ME & MEW. So far I have managed to complete 2 stationary steam engines  ( both work!!). In progress is a single cylinder IC engine and various items of tooling are nearing completion such as the Worden tool grinder and the George Thomas Universal Pillar tool.
 
I hope this has been of some help & don't forget that this forum is a valuable source of information from people who always seem happy to help!
 
Regards, Martin.
Windy13/10/2009 21:51:35
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910 forum posts
197 photos
Hello Alan, we all have to start at the beginning at whatever we do, may I suggest as a newcomer to Model engineerig join a club if you haven't already.
Some clubs have a libary or maybe somebody who could advise you on lathe work.
As an amateur engineer myself you will amaze your self at what you can create out of various materials.
It might not be a show stopper but its what you made.
As an elderly friend once said to me if you think you can not do something join the try company (health and safety issues to be considered).
All the best for joining the ranks of the metal munchers.
 
Windy
 
 
 
 
 
 

Edited By Windy on 13/10/2009 22:12:10

mgj13/10/2009 22:07:27
1017 forum posts
14 photos
Welcome to frustration - and great satisfaction.
 
I was lent the Sparey book when I started and that's very good, and has a few very useful workshop projects which I am still using now - a really good little depth stop, and a tailstock die holder . I think my mandrel handle is also one of his
alan w16/10/2009 17:48:08
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19 forum posts
Thanks for the advise I will take all of it and let you know how I get on
                                         Alan
Peter G. Shaw21/10/2009 15:39:58
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1531 forum posts
44 photos
Hi,
My first book was "Using the Small Lathe" by L. C. Mason. Although now quite dated, I found it quite useful in my early days, and even now it still does have some interesting ideas in it.
 
Other than that, there is the Workshop Practice Series. Ok all 43 would be a tad expensive, but the initial list could easily be whittled down. Perhaps Workholding in the Lathe (Tubal Cain), Lathework: A Complete Course (Harold Hall), followed by Milling Operations in the Lathe (Tubal Cain) &/or Milling: A Complete Course (Harold Hall).
 
Other than that, Model Engineering: A Foundation Course (Peter Wright) covers a large amount of the necessary work.
 
Good Luck & Enjoy,
 
Peter G. Shaw
AndyB15/11/2009 19:43:40
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167 forum posts
7 photos
Hi, I too am a complete beginner. I have got several books, particularly the Workshop Series. One the biggest problems that I have had is cutting speeds. I have got a Drummond Long Bed B, fitted with an electric motor. It took me a while to get the tools set right, has to be exactly level with the middle of the work! The thing is, I practiced on some aluminium stubs that a local engineer gave me (Rix Engineering in Harleston, Norfolk. Very helpful to a middle-aged nuisance!) I then went to some mild steel stubs to try. Dropped the speed and what a mess! It cuts much better at higher speeds, nearly the same as the ali! The books all say use low speeds but experiment. I find it a bit confusing that such an exact science isn't. Is it me, or my lathe, which was originally designed to work off a treadle?
Ian S C16/11/2009 01:00:48
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7468 forum posts
230 photos
Hi Andy,The aluminium could(on a more modern lathe) be cut much faster rather than the steel slower.As books go I'v even got Metal Turning Made Easy,The Simple Lathe and its Accessories andSmall Lathes Making and Using,these are three books of the"Amateur Mechanic and Work"handbooks,mine are the Austrailian edition 1943,but they were first published in 1920 in UK.I also have"How to Run a Lathe",and "How To Cut Screw Threads In The Lathe" these books published by the South Bend Lathe Works USA and dating back to the 1930s.I also have some of the newer ones mentioned above.They all have some ideas usfull to use with limited gear.IAN S C
John Haine16/11/2009 08:39:10
5563 forum posts
322 photos
I found Guy Lautard's "Machinist's Bedside Reader" series very interesting and useful....though much more advanced than me at the time I bought then (and still!) I keep finding as I come up against problems that a solution is there in what I gleaned from these books.
AndyB16/11/2009 19:25:49
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167 forum posts
7 photos
Thank you very much gentlemen.
 
Ian, I realise the logic of your comment about the higher speeds. It is not that the speed is high for steel but low for aluminium. Doh!
I must brush up my maths and calculate the actual speeds of the drive so I know where I am starting from.
 
I have Sparey's 'The Amateurs Lathe', Hall's 'Lathework; A Complete Course', Bradley's 'The Beginner's Workshop' and 'General Engineering Workshop Practice' published by Odhams with chapters written  by different people. This was published in the late 30's/early 40's I think as an illustration shows a male munitions worker turning brass Anti Aircraft cases.
 
I also have several of the Workshop Practice series as well as Machinery's Handbook 24...well beyond me but does explain why I don't know as much as I would like to think! Haha!
 
I will search out the older suggestions that you have both made as they seem to explain it all so much better...the modern books assume possession of modern machinery.
 
In the search for spares to rebuild my great grandfather's Drummond B of 1916, I have ended up with a bit of a collection of Drummonds; his B, the long bed B as mentioned in my post, a long bed M on treadle, an A Round Bed and a 1948 Myford M that came from the de Havilland works. It is too beautiful to strip so my wife uses it for wood turning.
 
Ah, the pleasures of retail therapy and eBay!
 
Andy

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