A useful book for the beginner or experienced machinist

In "Machine Shop Essentials: Questions and Answers", Frank Marlow has produced a book that spans the gap between a textbook of machine shop instruction and a home shop hobbyist's manual. Most machine shop textbooks are relics of a bygone era and aimed at running larger machines in a production environment and most hobbyist books are only oriented at the use of tabletop machines, not at general shop practice. This book contains content that will teach one how to run a variety of machines and how to handle most basic and advanced machine shop projects. Unlike formal textbooks the book's format is one of questions and answers, such as "What are the essential measuring and marking tools and how are they used?", "What do drill bushings do?", "What is trepanning and why is it used?" and "How are internal dovetails milled?". After each question Frank engages in a clear description of the process and the tools required. The writing is informal and non-technical yet contains good practice and full information for each of the questions asked. The examples in the book make use of several levels of machine tools from Sherline benchtop machines to Bridgeport milling machines and Clausing engine lathes. The book is copiously illustrated with over 500 line drawings which clearly show the ideas presented in the text. "Machine Shop Essentials, Questions & Answers" with its thorough grounding in basic and advanced machine shop practice is a useful text to add to any machinist's library.

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