Is it possible for me to buy a copy of the entire book? I'd love to have this resource.
Please let me know and shoot me a price.
BTW, my name is Ken as well.
Ken, Glad to meet you again!
I worked for a man who bought, sold, and traded machinery as a sideline of his business back then. He had a copy of "The Book" on serial numbers that he bought back then. This was around 1977. Dad would not let me buy the book. He didn't feel like I needed it. It only cost around $75.00, or there abouts, new back then. I paid more than that for school books back then! If you find one now, there almost priceless among us machinery noobs!
This is where I made the photocopy of the Gorton serial numbers.
I have a friend in Houston that has a couple that are available if I need to date a piece of machinery. The sad thing about them is, the book does not cover machines built before about the 1930's unless the companies were still in business to provide information when the books were compiled in the 1960's. A number of the older machine tool builders back then did not keep good records or they burned up in fires. So the information before then is sketchy or non-existent for some builders.
BTW- I have several original Gorton catalogs that I picked up at a machine tool show way back then, around 1974 vintage. I also have a operations manual for one of the 9-J mills that we purchased from K & T back around 1982. Most of this is already posted in the down load section by others. If not, it is on Rick Gorton's website. Right now i have no intentions of selling any of it. But if i do, I'll make it available here for anyone here to buy.
