ATM Machine Shop Books

["Bill Thornley" <bill_thornley@hotmail.com>]

G'day All,

I have subscribed to this forum for over a year now, contributing a little 
when I can, but mostly reading the wealth of knowledge you guys possess and 
impart on each other.

I am currently rebuilding my 10" F6.5 into a Dob Truss and have been 
attending a metalwork course at local community college. I have haunted the 
local libraries for books on metalwork in general and specifically Lathework 
and milling. Trying to regain my highschool knowledge in metalwork. I have 
completed 2/3 of a crayford focuser.

Last week I bought a Hercus lathe. I have been looking for a lathe the past 
year, trying to find a reasonable one in the trading post magazines, etc. 
Unfortunately the good ones sell quickly and the ones that don't are usually 
ex-school lathes in very poor condition. As luck would have it I recently 
found out a neighbor, a few doors down, earns a living maintaining and 
adjusting machinery for most of the high schools throughout my home state of 
New South Wales in Aus. He found, for me, this twenty year old Hercus (BTW 
the Hercus is a direct clone of the South Bend built in Australia). The 
lathe had spent it's 20 years in the woodwork shop of a school somewhere in 
the outback of the state. It is hardly been used and is in perfect order. 
All that was required was to clean the sawdust off and swap the 3 phase 415V 
motor for a single phase 240V one. It turned it's first (for me) bit of 
metal earlier this evening.

I was going to ask the likes of Ron Lippard etc. to recommend some reading 
material on milling and lathework etc. (BTW Ron, I enjoy your ramblings 
immensely. Keep 'em coming mate!) but anyway I found this site on the web 
that might interest anyone, like me, just starting out. It is produced by 
the U.S. Department Of The Army and is downloadable as a series of .PDF 
files that prints into a very impressive machine shop book of about 150 
pages on all things metalwork. Lathes, mills, grinding, sawing, etc. as well 
as comprehensive tables, weights and measures sections and properties and 
treatment of metals. Best of all it costs nothing bar the printing costs.

The URL is:-

http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/tc/9-524/toc.htm

There's also one on welding. Although I haven't read it yet:-

http://155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/tc/9-237/toc.htm

I hope this information is of help to someone!

Regards,

Bill Thornley
Sydney, Australia


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