Best All around Book to learn Percision Machining

My son is interested in learning precision Machining and loves to read books and he wants me to get him some to get him started before he comes to start helping me so any help on Precision machining books would be greatly appreciated.

First read copy to your computer

Thread cutting:
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1617/3537.pdf

thanks i will send the link to him

Machine Shop Practice Vols 1 & 2 by Karl Moltrecht, has lots of good foundational information and techniques aimed at users of manual machines but with wide application.

Machinery's Handbook- Standard desk reference book for machnists. Very dense and not something you can read like a how-to or textbook but has tons of condensed information.

When I first started machining, I got a lot of value out of Sandvik's online training courses. They are free and although Sandvik is a tooling company they are not specific to Sandvik tools. They have a bunch of articles here and your son could sign up for the online course here, which has assessment tests and a completion certificate.

Oh also if he is truly interested in work that most machinists would consider high precision, a book that I haven't personally read but often hear mentioned is Wayne R. Moore's Foundations of Mechanical Accuracy. A copy is rather expensive ($150 new from the publisher), but I'm sure it would be worthwhile if that's what he wants to do.

Hi glibh
Here is a good book I suggest you may give to you son, and perhaps read it yourself:

Machine Tool Practices
Book by John E. Neely, Richard R. Kibbe, Roland O Meyer, and Warren White

NOTE: There is also a workbook that goes along with this, so be aware of which you are getting before you purchase it.

If you do a Google, amazon or eBay search for this title you can pickup an older edition that is still perfect for learning.

I like this book so much I keep extra copies for employees to read and borrow.
If you get the 8th edition with the blue cover that is a great one for someone starting out.
The current edition much more expensive (and still worth it).

This is a good book for a person new to the machine shop, but wants to become a professional and competent machinist. It is is very thorough in coverage of topics such as safety, basic and precision measuring, hand tools, files, drill and end mill geometry, drilling, manual mill setups, feeds and speeds and how to calculate them for various materials, common operations such as chamfering, reaming, milling, lathe setup and operation, and various aspects related to precision machining.

Good luck to you and your son!

Steve

Buy him K.H Moltrecht's Machine Shop Practice, in 2 volumes. If you hunt around, you can find it cheaper than that. Or, any of Moltrecht's competition in the "learn how to be a machinist" textbook racket.

Also of interest, Tim Lipton's Metalworking Sink or Swim, and James Harvey's Machine Shop Trade Secrets.

I like Anderson/Tatro Shop Theory.

Thanks i am going to forward everything to him but i will most likely buy him the books they can be valuable resources when you are in a situation you are not quite sure of just like Practical Machinest .com is

List of books
Machine shop practice books

*At the above site one can read the books on line..

old fashioned but very good
THE STARRETT BOOK FOR MACHINISTS APPRENTICES
The Starrett Book For Machinists' Apprentices - Books

Must have (or the like)
20th CENTURY MACHINE SHOP PRACTICE

2Th Century Machine Shop Practice: Arithmetic, Practical Geometry, Mensuration, Applied Mechanics, Properties of Steam, the Indicator by Leonard Elliott Brookes, Paperback | Barnes & Noble(R)

The book called "Find an Old Guy and Spend Ten Years Working with Him and Listening to Almost Everything he Says"

Available at small machine shops and large machine shops nationwide, but in limited quantities, and when they are gone, there will be no more

Great thread

In a lot of cases, the same machine will do both the roughing and precision machining. You can't learn precision machining by reading about it, it is something that comes with practice. I guess if you don't have a clue about how to get to 'precision', then it is helpful to learn about all the different types of machine tools and methods out there.

Something interesting I've gleaned from listening to some psychology, is that when we learn a new skill, we practice doing something with significant mental effort, have a sleep, practice some more, until our brains actually build a 'mental machine' that will handle the task without much conscious attention. That is where hands on practice excels, and where book learnin' falls short. That's what you see exhibited in an experienced machinist, and his skills cannot be passed along without the recipient learning on the job. Impatient young 'uns may have difficulty accepting this, if they think that running their eyes along a line of letters constitutes learning.

Good to understand cutting tools with free down load Cincinnati tool and cutter grinder handbook.
free download
Cincinnati Milling Machine Co. - Publication Reprints - Cincinnati #2 Cutter and Tool Grinder Manual | VintageMachinery.org

The standard book when I was learning was Workshop Technology by W Chapman. 3 volumes and Vol 1&2 are a great start. It's a British book and so a little more obscure in the US but they've served me well as a non professional machinist. However it's effectively a 1960's-70's text of the pre-CNC era (like me) but I think everyone needs to understand the traditional way, even if they rapidly move into more advanced tech

C