Wikibooks and a joint machining textbook project

[samthedog]

Hello all. I was doing some research on curriculum development (I work as a training manager in the oil industry) and came across the wikibooks concept. The idea is to create textbooks that are made by volunteers and are available for free to all.

Since this forum is made of volunteers and those who share a common passion for machining and mechanical tools, I figured there would be a wealth of knowledge here to give the machining section on wikibooks a shot in the arm:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Machining

I write articles for my blog for the same reason we put effort into our posts here... to teach others and keep certain skills alive. Having just spent money on some machining books, I have come to realize this is valuable knowledge that may be too expensive for many to purchase and in reality, could be free to all. Are there any people interested in contributing to the machining section on wikibooks? I will be adding some information and would be happy if others from this forum joined in for one specific reason. The atmosphere on this forum is genuinely friendly and the people are charitable. I believe this comes out through what we write and would make the machining wikibook an excellent read and a great resource - encouraging others to get involved.

If you are interested, all you need to do is join here:

http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Main+Page&type=signup

I hope others are willing to participate and see this as an opportunity to expand participation in our hobby.

 

[samthedog]

I think at this point it just needs some entries. As time goes on and people get more involved, they will correct the entries and add to them.

I was thinking of starting with things most of us know about like vices, chucks etc...

I also think this would be a great resource for us with tool grinders to create a bit of a resource for others (and ourselves). There is little info around on tool grinding so this would be a good start to make some info more readily available.

Paul.

 

[DAN_IN_MN]

Great idea!

Just as an example, here's a Wiki created for the Honda CX/GL500 Motorcycle of which I've helped build.

http://cxgl.wikispaces.com/