# Machinery's Handbook



## ddickey (Jul 7, 2016)

Good book to have for a newb? Are there better/more important ones to acquire first?


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## MozamPete (Jul 7, 2016)

I like the older machine handbooks which can be picked up quite cheaply - the modern ones removed a lot of information I find useful for home/hobby/manual type operations. Most of the information on forging for example is not in the latest revisions. The older information is more in keeping with the age of the machines I use.

Southbends 'how to run a lathe' is also a great beginner reference


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## Karl_T (Jul 7, 2016)

It is the definitive reference book. I like the .pdf version on my PC.  Quick to search, print the page I need and take down to the shop.


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## Charles Spencer (Jul 7, 2016)

I got mine from ABE books (24th Edition).  Well worth the money:

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sea...ts=t&tn=Machinerys+handbook+NOT+guide+NOT+use


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## Tozguy (Jul 7, 2016)

The pocket companion version of the Machinery's Handbook has served me very well since the start. It has all the info I have ever needed.
https://www.amazon.ca/Machinerys-Handbook-Companion-Christopher-McCauley/dp/0831129115


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## GLCarlson (Jul 7, 2016)

Yes. Just buy one.  Very few of us buy a new copy. It's like the old Rubber Bible (the CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics): one to a customer, one purchase per lifetime. Older versions are less "cultivated" -ie, the good stuff thrown out by some (non machinist) idiot- so a used copy will do fine.


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## brino (Jul 7, 2016)

I have recently seen some used ones at my local used tool places for around $10-$15.
Check any used book stores too.

I also prefer the old ones, I like the forging info and (currently) have no use for cnc/g-codes......

-brino


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## karim (Jul 7, 2016)

When you say "old editions" how old are you thinking? 20th edition? 25th? 26th?


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## Reeltor (Jul 7, 2016)

I was fortunate enough to get an 11th edition from a member here.  It has a lot of good information, especially for someone like me who uses only manual machines.

Mike


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## MozamPete (Jul 8, 2016)

Pre 20th (mid 70's or earlier) for me.  Mid 50's they removed a lot of stuff and then again in the 80's.   AnvilFire has a summary of the various editions and the information relating to blacksmithing that was removed as time went by.

http://www.anvilfire.com/bookrev/in...eview of over 90 years of Machinerys Handbook


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## gi_984 (Jul 16, 2016)

Agree, pre-20th.  Mine is a 19th edition and is a must have reference for me.  MozamPete, thanks for the link.  I might look for a early 1950ish edition to supplement.


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## karim (Jul 16, 2016)

I got a really good price on a 20th Ed. In great condition ($20). Anything of note I'm missing?


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## RHayes (Jul 19, 2016)

Just got a used 25th edition for about 30.00 with shipping.  As was said,  well worth the money.


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## schor (Jul 20, 2016)

I got my 10th edition for $5.


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## 4GSR (Jul 20, 2016)

I was given a 5th and 15th editions by a co-worker that belong to his grandfather about 15 years ago.  The first new one I bought on my own was the 20th edition. That was 41 years ago, I was still in high school then. Borrowed a 23rd edition from a company library that has about 30 of them left over from a training seminar they had.  Last one I bought was the 26th edition, but I bought the large print edition along with the CD.  And no, I will not provide any copies of the CD to anyone!  Go buy your own like I did.  Haven't decided if I will buy a 30th edition or not.


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## Gerritt (Jul 21, 2016)

Not to take away from the usefulness of Machinery's Handbook, as a beginner I think you will find more usable information in:

Advanced Machine Shop by Smith (originally published in 1910) and the precursor to that Textbook of the Elements of Machine Work. Both are understandable and provide plenty of workflow charts to learn sequence of operations from.
Both books are free downloads from http://archive.org . Advanced Machine Shop can also be bought used via AbeBooks.com (originals), the Elements book is available there are a reprint.

Gerrit


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## 4GSR (Jul 22, 2016)

Gerrit,

How about posting a direct link to the book down load?


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## Gerritt (Jul 22, 2016)

but but then you miss the fun of being distracted for days by all the other books 

Elements of Machine Work: https://archive.org/details/textbookelement00smitgoog
Advanced Machine Work: https://archive.org/details/textbookadvance00smitgoog

The trick to finding books at Archive.org is to enclose the title in " 's


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## ddickey (Jul 22, 2016)

Thanks for the links.


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## Tony Wells (Jul 23, 2016)

Gerrit, those are nice texts, but are not a substitute for MH. It's more just raw data for reference sake. I believe we all should own one, but there's no "how to's" or things like that in it. That's not what it is for.


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## Splat (Aug 1, 2016)

Machinery's Handbook should be in every machinist's, amatuer or journeyman, library. No book or video can replace hands-on experience but for something more on how's and why's of different machines I recently found 2 books I highly recommend. Both were written by Henry D. Burghardt, entitled _Machine Tool Operations Part 1_  and _Machine Tool Operations Part 2_. I've come to appreciate and really like these two books. MTOp1 was originally written by Burghardt and the later editions and MTOp2 was written by him and coauthors. MTOp1 is on lathes, forge, and bench work.  MTOp2 covers shaper, planer, milling machine, grinding machine, hydraulics, metal band saws, metallurgy, and cutting fluids. I highly recommend them for beginner machinists. With all the old pics and excellent writing I think experienced machinists would appreciate the read, too.


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## GaveUpOnTV49 (Aug 6, 2016)

I hope I'm not breaking any rules here. If you go to the piratebay (I could but won't put a URL here) and do a search in ebooks for machining, there are some extremely good books there. You have to get a torrent client (I like Tixati) and it wouldn't hurt to get virus protection (altho I've never had problems, I would pick the uploader that has a lot of uploads, and stay away, if you're worried from the anonymous) They will be formated in epub, or mobi or pdf or some other formats. I use Calibre, another free app to organize books and it also has, somewhat like firefox or android, a lot of add ons to do almost anything to do with reading, organizing, wirelessly moving books to and from your phone or other devices, etc. With Calibre, when you tap the 'download meta info' in downloads books covers, and descriptions of plots, or subjects of the books. Each book has a page in Calibre, and you can add tags to them, so that you can organize books according to subject, like machining or machine tools.
I think that society is in the midst of a lot of changes, and in a few years a physical book will be sort of like a record is now, still usable, but with phones and other small devices, the electronic books will 'take over'


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## uncle harry (Aug 7, 2016)

GaveUpOnTV49 said:


> I hope I'm not breaking any rules here. If you go to the piratebay (I could but won't put a URL here) and do a search in ebooks for machining, there are some extremely good books there. You have to get a torrent client (I like Tixati) and it wouldn't hurt to get virus protection (altho I've never had problems, I would pick the uploader that has a lot of uploads, and stay away, if you're worried from the anonymous) They will be formated in epub, or mobi or pdf or some other formats. I use Calibre, another free app to organize books and it also has, somewhat like firefox or android, a lot of add ons to do almost anything to do with reading, organizing, wirelessly moving books to and from your phone or other devices, etc. With Calibre, when you tap the 'download meta info' in downloads books covers, and descriptions of plots, or subjects of the books. Each book has a page in Calibre, and you can add tags to them, so that you can organize books according to subject, like machining or machine tools.
> I think that society is in the midst of a lot of changes, and in a few years a physical book will be sort of like a record is now, still usable, but with phones and other small devices, the electronic books will 'take over'




Give me the look and feel of a book and a visibly large drafting media.  Nothing updates faster than a scanning eye. It's a quality of life thing.


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## CraigB1960 (Aug 7, 2016)

GaveUpOnTV49 said:


> I think that society is in the midst of a lot of changes, and in a few years a physical book will be sort of like a record is now, still usable, but with phones and other small devices, the electronic books will 'take over'



I'm a big fan of eBooks whereas my Mom, (retired librarian) likes the feel of a book.


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## TOOLMASTER (Aug 7, 2016)

http://www.knucklebusterinc.com/downloads/freeEbooks/American_Machinists_Handbook_P1.pdf


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## John Hasler (Aug 7, 2016)

It should be noted that anything published before 1923 is in the public domain.  Thus you are free to download, copy, and distribute the earliest editions of the Handbook without infringing copyright.


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## core-oil (Aug 10, 2016)

I have by me two copies of Machinery Handbook, The first which I purchased many years ago is a third edition (Dated 1914) This over the years I have found incredibly useful for home shop  reference, & also on occasion for information when I was employed, In the section on feeds & speeds the info is in my estimation relevant to the speeds one uses at home where stellite tools are the order of the day , when using tipped tools, or throwaway tips , on  most rare occasions then I refer to the tool suppliers data sheets, But for home mechanics work How Often is That ?
The other edition I have is a sixth edition dated 1924 This book I picked up in a West of Scotland bookshop a couple of years ago, The original source of the book somewhat intrigues me as the supplier was   The Tool  Shop Hardware Co.
                                             tools hardware & sporting goods.
                                             463 Michigan Ave.
                                             Detroit Michigan.

If only the second copy of this fine book could tell me its story, it might tell me of a craftsman who perhaps emigrated to Detroit from over here Along came the great depression , and maybe' he returned home, Who knows its story, might be happy, might be sad , One thing for sure I saved it from going in the garbage as the bookseller had it in the junk pile , That tells me today of the sad level to which the engineering crafts have sunk.


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## Glenn Brooks (Aug 20, 2016)

Anybody know of a MH with full 8x10" pages?  Its getting harder and harder to leaf  thru 1000 pages with miniaturized fonts.


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## JimDawson (Aug 20, 2016)

Glenn Brooks said:


> Anybody know of a MH with full 8x10" pages?  Its getting harder and harder to leaf  thru 1000 pages with miniaturized fonts.



https://www.amazon.com/Machinerys-Handbook-29th-published-Industrial/dp/B00E280QKU

or

https://www.amazon.com/Denshine®-Su...7921&sr=8-2&keywords=surgeon+binocular+loupes


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## 12bolts (Aug 20, 2016)

Or
http://ebooksdownloadonline.com/201...nklin-d-jones-holbrook-horton-henry-h-ryffel/


Cheers Phil


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## Dunc1 (Sep 10, 2016)

MH is (was) available thru Google Books for d/l. Old edition, c.1915


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## projectnut (Sep 10, 2016)

As noted earlier the Machinery Handbook is not intended to be a "How To" book, but rather a reference book.  It's geared toward the professional machinist in a modern day machine shop.  As such "obsolete" information i.e. information on operations no longer performed or taper and thread sizes no longer used in a modern production shop are deleted and replaced with information more suited to today's production environment.  My first new edition was purchased in the early 1980's as a requirement when starting a new job in an engineering department. 

Over the years I have purchased several other new and used versions.  All were purchased as need arose for information either related to the job or later in my own shop.  I now have at least a dozen different editions.  Most of the older ones were purchased to get information on now obsolete machine tapers, thread pitches, and collet information.  I find them all necessities when working on repairing older machines.   There are certainly better "how to" books on the market if that's what you're looking for.  However over the last 30+ years I've found the Machinery Handbook to be the definitive reference book for use in the machine shop and engineering department.


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## The Liberal Arts Garage (Mar 1, 2017)

karim said:


> When you say "old editions" how old are you thinking? 20th edition? 25th? 26th?


Even if your shop is only a beautiful dream, a Machinery's Handbook is 
known  as the" The Bible " for good reason; as is the King James, for reasons
beyond doctrines. ...........BLJHB.


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