Overview

This collection of priceless tips, tricks, skills, and experiences from a veteran of the trade is presented in a way that captures the readers’ attention and engages them in the process of furthering their skills. It includes shop-tested descriptions and illustrations of creative and unique techniques and observations from four decades in the metalworking trades. Perfect for hobbyists and veterans alike, and everyone in between, and for those who work out of either small shops or garages, backyard facilities and basements. It will help any metalworker do better work and do it faster!  

Users will learn about: The shop environment. Basic generic skills such as drawing and sketching, accuracy, speed, shop math and trigonometry, and angles. Setting up your shop, including floors, light, heating and cooling, workbenches and tables, air supply, raw material storage and handling, safety equipment, filing, sawing, rigging and lifting. Manual and CNC lathes. Manual and CNC mills. Welding. Flame straightening. Sheet metal, patterns, cones, and tanks and baffles. Sanding, grinding, and abrading.

Features

• Covers hundreds of shop-tested techniques. These creative and unique techniques have been shop-tested by the author the old-fashioned way, by repetition and hard work.
• Features hundreds of 4-color photographs. Metalworking —Doing It Betterincludes over 900 4-color images personally photographed by the author to illustrate the methods he describes in the book.
• Fully integrates text and photographs. The guide has been designed so that in virtually every case, the tips and the supporting photographs appear together on the same page.
• Provides wide range of topics. Many of the topics address specific trade skills, working with manual and CNC lathes and mills, as well as welding flame straightening, sheet metal, sanding, grinding, and abrading. Earlier chapters focus on general across-the-board skills, including essential shop math and trigonometry, accuracy, speed, drawing, and sketching.
• Includes extensive guidance for setting up your workshop. Chapter 4 helps you with shop basics — finding the right floor and lights, heating and cooling, workbenches and tables, air supply, storage and handling of raw materials, and much more.
• Written from a folksy, personal perspective. The tips and techniques are presented as an ongoing, informal conversation between the author and the reader.

 Chapter 1         Diving In  

• Welcome to Doing It Better                                                                                
• Personal Learning Attitude                                                                                 
• Shop Environment                                                                                             
• What’s a Journeyman Anyway?                                                                         
• Thursday Nights                                                                                    
• Format                                                                                                             

 

Chapter 2         Brain Food 

• Communication                                                                                             
• Drawing and Sketch                                                                                     
• Minimizing Screw-Ups                                                                                     
• Accuracy                                                                                                        
• Speed                                                                                                            
• Shop Math                                                                                                       
• Mass, Volume, and Area                                                                                 
•  Angles and Shop Trigonometry                                                                    
• The Metric System                                                                                          
• Computers and the Metalworker                                                                        
• Dumb and Dumber                                                                                           
• Want to Make a Million Dollars?                                                                      

 

Chapter 3         Bean Counters Lounge

• Engineers and Metalworkers                                                                          
• Shop Talk                                                                                                        
• Dimensioning                                                                                                    
• Other Tips                                                                                                     

 

Chapter 4         Setting Up Your Shop

• Floors                                                                                                             
• Light                                                                                                              
• Food Areas                                                                                                     
• Heating and Cooling                                                                                        
• Workbenches and Tables                                                                               
• Air Supply                                                                                                      
• Raw Material Storage and Handling                                                                   
• Material Identification and Characteristics                                               
• Safety Equipment                                                                                            
• Tool Crib                                                                                                          
• Bench Work                                                                                                     
• Filing                                                                                                               
• Saws and Sawing                                                                                             
• Rigging and Lifting                                                                                            

 

Chapter 5         Manual Lathe

• Learning to Love the Lathe                                                                                 
• Getting Started with the Manual Lathe                                                                
• Step Turning                                                                                                     
• Threading in the Manual Lathe                                                                           
• Multiple Start Threads                                                                                       

 

Chapter 6         Manual Milling Machine

• Bridgeport Mills                                                                                          
• Suggested Improvements                                                                                   
• Spherical Surface Generation                                                                            

 

Chapter 7         CNC Mill

• Working with CNC Equipment