Modern Machine-Shop Practice Book. 1888.

I inherited this old book many years ago from my Granddads place. Thought some of you would like to see some of the machinery in it from back in the day. Yes, Print date is 1888 by Charles Scribner's Sons. Written by Joshua Rose, M.E. Some of you out there must have some of this machinery in your collections. I'll load more photos if there is an interest and following here.

I own not only machinery you might see in the book, but no less than three iterations of the book. Mr. Rose was (um) prolific in his market of himself. He offered not only the books in three editions over 40 years but also the book could be bought in "folio" version - him essentially doling it out to buyers "chapter by chapter." I have a folio version that is not complete but appears as if Rose (or someone) literally physically took books apart and packaged them in paper covers.

His last effort along these lines about 1912 was a "supplement" - which I don't have. Rose also did an active trade in "other" subjects including Shop Work, Steam Engines, and other aspects of engineering in pre-20th century America.

The books are available online from many sources including Google Book, Hathi-Trust, and Bibio. Generally they sell dependent upon the condition of the cover. Complete good shape leather-bound "Library" versions sell on Ebay or ABEbooks upwards of $400 for the set of two. Degraded but "usable" will sell for as little as $25 a volume with a reasonable usable pair being a little over $100. AND they have been reprinted and are available from the Indian/Pacific Rim book reprinters for perhaps $70 for the pair.

My first and original Modern Machine Shop Practice was actually bound in FOUR volumes - the 4th missing. It took a few years but I was able to find the missing pages and have them privately bound cheaply to match the others (that in itself is a feat rarely accomplished these days.)

Nice to see and be reminded of those books. They even have a "smell" unique to themselves. The price is right on electronic versions, but NOTHING beats the sensory experience, and the flash back of one's earlier marvel, of an old book.

You need to get yourself a Volume 1 - you'll get to look at all the lathes.

Joe in NH

Thanks Joe, I wondered if it was rare or not. This book is missing the rear back hard cover the binding cover end but the pages seem complete. I would suppose it is not worth all that much in money given the condition. But the inside pages are complete and I do enjoy just looking at the tech from over 130 years ago from time to time. Some of the Tech has not changed all that much. In other places, It has changed multifold with CNC capabilities of today. Still fun to look through. Dandy Dave!

Several more illustrations of Milling Machines of the day. 1888

Thanks to Joe in NH I found this online if anyone else is interested. See Volume 1 in it entirety.
Modern machine-shop practice; operation, construction, and principles of shop machinery, steam engines, and electrical machinery : Rose, Joshua : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

It is a classic, a must for the old shop guy. I got my first set at least 35 years ago.

Dandy Dave ,
Thanks for sharing the pictures from your book.
I had seen the book mentioned a few times on this forum by JoeinNH and some others and had seen that volume and others y Rose on the Internet Archive or the Hathi Trust site.
I will have to take a closer look at the book again .
I noticed some of the milling machines in your pictures resembled the Brainard machines featured in this thread from a few years back.
https://www.practicalmachinist.com/...milling-machine-co-320472/?highlight=Brainard
There are no doubt other machines shown in the book that are featured in other threads that may be owned by others who post on this forum.
Regards,
Jim

The Modern Machine Shop Practice book is where I first learned about using a "sharp blast" (sandblast) to sharpen files.

We converted our blast cabinet at work over to black beauty for a job demanding the coarser grit - I took this opportunity to bring ALL my files into work and one-by-one sharpen them. (Glass bead - where we normally worked - will work but the results don't seem as sharp - or as long lasting.)

That was many years ago now. Rarely now from the drawer I come up with a file that just seems to cut well. "Is it possible" think I "that one of those files has been sitting unused in my drawer until now waiting to be used?"

The ups and downs of machine work. Never a dull moment. (Pun intended.)

Joe in NH