Help choose between two mills

[verbotenwhisky]

I have picked up a bunch of the workshop series books. Agree they come from a perspective of knowing the basics, probably aimed at people who had metal shop in school or otherwise have a grasp of the basics.

I have really come to appreciate older (1970s or earlier) text books as their writing style I find easier to follow along with. Hard to put into words, but I feel like the older books were written to teach from, where many later texts feel like they are just there to supplement a lecture.

Hard to go wrong with the classics South Bend's How to run a lathe or Atlas's Manual of Lathe Operations (often just MOLO).

I have the Starrett Book For Student Machinist and have found it very useful over the years.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Is the edit feature broke for anyone else? I just get an empty box with nothing to edit.

OK, I found the correct info, and I was missing it.

If a riser block can be employed then the knee mill is a no brainer.

I was this in lack of any better pictures or measurements from that site, but the height of the handwheels would be a concern for me on the fixed bed machine. If their too low you're going to have a sore back and hate life after a couple hours of use.

I'm finding this to be the case with my small machines and will build a taller table base to accommodate them. I also do not like the work being down low compared to how a knee mill lets you many times adjust for this to a degree.

If I need to mill something that is on the table the head is often in the way on my small round column mill, whereas on a knee mill the head is always in the same place up high where you don't have to struggle to see the work or get your lighting right.

 

[pontiac428]

The Harold Hall books are all pretty good as are the ones by Tubal Cain. They're not total beginner books, but really for people who are at the stage where they have got themselves comfortable with the basic operations on a machine tool (on a lathe, for example, turning to a specific diameter, facing, drilling, basic boring, parting off, those sorts of things).

One final thing, most of these books have a particular style of writing. They're written by men who were far from young in the 1980's and as a consequence have a style that is of its time. It takes a bit of concentration to read but then, these are technical books, not Andy McNab page turners.

I always thought the style of writing in the Machinist's Workshop series was a quirk of being written by Englishmen (or at least English men), it really shows the differences between the tongues in our common language... in a Charles Dickens way. It's an excellent series of books for picking up the principles. My favorite shop books are the Henry Ford Trade School Shop Theory book for your introductory guidance, and the two-part Machine Shop Practice by Karl Moltrecht which is a pleasure to read for its clarity.

 

[SouthernChap]

I always thought the style of writing in the Machinist's Workshop series was a quirk of being written by Englishmen (or at least English men), it really shows the differences between the tongues in our common language... in a Charles Dickens way. It's an excellent series of books for picking up the principles. My favorite shop books are the Henry Ford Trade School Shop Theory book for your introductory guidance, and the two-part Machine Shop Practice by Karl Moltrecht which is a pleasure to read for its clarity.

Well yes, they're definitely British English but also British English of a particular period (that of the middle 20th Century).

I have the two volumes of the Moltrecht books. Haven't yet had a chance to look at them yet but your usage of the word 'clarity' has me thinking I should give them some time.

I'm unfamiliar with the Henry Ford Trade School book. I might see if I can pick up a copy.

I've always loved books and there seems to be a significant catalogue of old, but still worth reading machining books out there.

 

[SouthernChap]

If I need to mill something that is on the table the head is often in the way on my small round column mill

I have caught my vision aid magnifier on the fine feed of my Warco Minor often enough to find it mildly annoying. As you say, having the mill raised a bit would help.

I winder where can I find a slab of cast iron 350 mm x 500 mm x 150 mm at a price that won't make my sphericals retract back into my body!

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I have caught my vision aid magnifier on the fine feed of my Warco Minor often enough to find it mildly annoying. As you say, having the mill raised a bit would help.

I winder]/b] where can I find a slab of cast iron 350 mm x 500 mm x 150 mm at a price that won't make my sphericals retract back into my body!

Go back to using all the words, brevity messes with your spelling.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

That wasn't all supposed to be in bold.

 

[pontiac428]

I winder where can I find a slab of cast iron 350 mm x 500 mm x 150 mm at a price that won't make my sphericals retract back into my body!

I was thinking that lifting that slab would forcefully do the opposite!

The Henry Ford Shop Theory book saw a lot of print, you should be able to find a copy easily and at a fair price.

 

[Aaron_W]

I'm unfamiliar with the Henry Ford Trade School book. I might see if I can pick up a copy.

It is a nice book for hand tool use including many obsolescent tools that can still prove handy for hobbyists. It may not be as easy to find over there, but pretty easy to find on Ebay for $10-20.

The Henry Ford Trade School was an interesting endeavor. One of Henry Ford's better social experiments and apparently successful with many of its graduates finding jobs at the Ford Motor Company.

 

[SouthernChap]

It is a nice book for hand tool use including many obsolescent tools that can still prove handy for hobbyists. It may not be as easy to find over there, but pretty easy to find on Ebay for $10-20.

Honestly, my benchwork can always benefit from improvement, so that makes interesting to the likes of me.