Books

Workshop Practice Series Books and other literature for the Model, Home & Experimental Engineer and Watch & Clock Maker.

We aim to keep all books in stock (if in print) for immediate delivery – nothing is to special order. Each of the books below has been carefully selected (from amongst the dozens available) to be the best for both assisting the beginner whilst offering the more experienced worker a useful source of reference and advice.

Gearing of Lathes for Screwcutting is aimed specifically at the engineer for use in the workshop.

Price: £19.99

Aimed specifically at the engineer for use in the workshop, this guide is intended to take away as much as possible of the mathematics and mystique from calculating gear ratios, so that the more enjoyable work of using your lathe to make things becomes as easy as possible.

Price: £19.99

As well as covering the various workholding options, this book explains the principles behind them.

Price: £14.99

"Screwcutting" is a guide to the theory and practice of threads and thread-making, whether that is threading a hole using hand tools or cutting a thread using a lathe.

Price: £19.99

This book describes the building of a range of simple miniature steam engines. Every project can be completed in a basic workshop are are an ideal introduction to model engineering. Well illustrated with dimensioned drawings, photographs and printed in very clear text.

Price: £19.95

Model engineers have been making models of internal combustion engines since the invention of the real thing, but it has always been surrounded by a mystique, and a perceived difficulty that has put many people off.

Price: £28.00

"The Amateur's Lathe". A book in print since 1946, it assumes no prior knowledge and goes through all the basic and some advanced machining processes in a clear and logical way. Hence, it's an indispensable aid to the beginner - or even experienced turner.

Price: £12.75

A companion to "The Amateur's Lathe" this very useful book covers basic and advanced use of the lathe and other machine tools as well as a multitude of other workshop tasks and processes. This is wonderful information - and especially valuable if you have not tackled a particular

Price: £8.75

Learn how to do more with less – and less expensive materials – a comprehensive exposition of the structure of steels and the effects of heat treatment on them, particularly in regard to cutting tools. Accurate temperature colour charts are included.

Price: £9.75

Arnold Throp takes the beginner through the stages necessary to use a vertical miller successfully. A deceptively simple machine, which takes time to master, known pitfalls are explained - and dozens of useful tips offered.

Price: £9.75

A comprehensive account of how to use the lathe to generate screw threads - in all pitches, forms and types. With stage-by-stage instructions this is an ideal book for the beginner - and a comprehensive reference for the more experienced. Second best-seller in the series.

Price: £9.75

A very popular book - proving that many people really do want to construct projects entirely from basic materials. An invaluable reference source with many valuable hints and tips from an experienced user. This new edition brings everything up to date.
112 pages.

Price: £9.75

A thorough and practical discourse on how to use the lathe for milling. With a little ingenuity (supplied in the book), a vertical slide and some home-made attachments a surprising amount can be accomplished at very low cost.

Price: £9.75

Model and experimental engineers do not have access to the sophisticated measuring equipment used in industry. An expert comprehensively describes accurate marking out and measuring by simple means.

Price: £9.75

This book sets out the basic techniques for oxyacetylene welding, brazing, flame cutting and electric-arc welding with mild steel, cast iron, stainless steel, copper, brass etc., in sheet, plate or cast form.

Price: £9.75

The Author, R.E.Wakeford, an instructor in metal work and allied crafts describes - with a good teacher's clarity - describes a host of processes which will be of use to the model and experimental engineer struggling with the fascinating black art of metal folding.

Price: £9.75

Joining metal by soft and hard solder or brazing is a run-of-the-mill jobs in model and light engineering. Tubal Cain examines the processes, equipment, materials and explains what is happening in the joints as they are made.

Price: £9.75

Another excellent Ian Bradley book describing the often-neglected art of choosing, using and maintaining those taken-for-granted hand and machine saws we all own.
Includes useful tables covering a range of applications.

Price: £9.75

Electroplating in the small workshop clearly explained. Using simple materials, basic equipment and straightforward techniques the author describes how a variety of cosmetic and wear-resistant finishes may be applied to metal to enhance its durability and appearance.

Price: £9.75

Tubal Cain discusses drills and drilled holes and threading with taps and dies - primarily by hand. Gives sage advice about how to overcome the problems often encountered in this type of work. Covers all thread types with conversions charts, thread gauges, sharpening, etc.

Price: £9.75

A new edition of Tubal Cain's comprehensive guide to making and reading workshop drawings. Easily-understood text, new illustrations and technical drawings all specially created to help understanding this tricky subject.

Price: £9.75

Stan Bray, an acknowledge master of small tool design, describes 14 simple items that will save time and aid accuracy in bench and lathe work. None take more than 4 hours - or any use special materials. Drawings, photographs and sketches included.

Price: £9.75

"If I could hold it I could machine it!" is often the cry of both the frustrated beginner and more experienced turner - and in this book Tubal Cain offers his advice about practical aspects of the subject. Many photographs showing typical set ups.

Price: £9.75

An easily-understood book concerning principles, characteristics, operation installation, speed control, braking, etc. Generators, safety, testing and a useful section on identifying and using 'scrap' motors. An excellent primer on the electric motor.

Price: £9.75

Ivan Law sets out in a clear and understandable way explanations that describe all types of conventional gears - and how to make them in a small workshop. Enormously helpful to the novice and a valuable reference work for the experienced.

Price: £9.75

Les Oldridge's guide offers what an apprentice would have learned from his mentor's. If you missed school metalwork this book will show you how to avoid broken tools and spoiled jobs - and how to enjoy the pleasures of handling metal & tools correctly.

Price: £9.75

Another book by Tubal Cain: this explains not only how to manufacture small springs - and how to choose the materials to manufacture them from - but also how to make the necessary mathematical calculations that are essential to success.

Price: £9.75

An Ian Bradley Guide to a miscellany of useful hints, tips and solid advice about using tools and techniques to best advantage. Those "taken-for-granted" engineering expressions are clearly explained for the beginner. An excellent workshop primer.

Price: £9.75

A comprehensive 144 page book by David Lomas which looks at traditional and modern adhesives and explains their advantages and shortcomings under a variety of situations likely to be of direct interest to the model and experimental engineer.

Price: £9.75

Deals comprehensively with electricity in the home workshop and garage. Covers the complete range - from wiring just a plug to a complete workshop. Covers, fusing, lighting, cabling, switches, loads and safety-related items. Many taken-for-granted items properly and safely explained.

Price: £9.75

Starts with a look at planning regulations (England) then covers the entire subject in detail – costing, situation, layout, design, floor, walls, roof, materials, lighting, heating, insulation, fitting out, power supply, drainage, security, tools, cost savings, maintenance and insurance advice.

Price: £9.75

Detailed advice on how to identify and make use of discarded and surplus motors from domestic and industrial sources and how to operate 3-phase motors from a 1-phase supply. Lots of money-saving, practical advice from an expert in the field.

Price: £9.75

Create a model from “the ground up” - the most popular book in the series covers everything from the basic principles of pattern-making, moulding boxes, cores & core boxes, metal, gas, electric & coke furnaces to step-by-step procedures with examples - loco cylinders and wheels - included

Price: £9.75

A collection of useful extracts culled from the English "Model Engineer Magazine" - including hints and tips originally mentioned in brief notes and short articles from many years ago - and never republished until now. An interesting book for anyone who enjoys working with metal.

Price: £9.75

A comprehensive 160 page book which describes the design, construction and use of many different spindles that will be of use to the model and experimental engineer. Spindles, bearings and materials suitable or adaptable for use in a variety of machine tools are covered.

Price: £9.75

Written by "Tubal Cain" - who enjoyed more than 60 years involvement with model and full-size engines - this books shows how to make a range of devices proven to be of great assistance in improving accuracy and simplifying common tasks in the engineering workshop.

Price: £9.75

Computer Assisted Design - D. A. G. Brown, takes the reader one step at a time through the mystique surrounding CAD and shows how the computer can be turned into a versatile drawing tool. Claim back your computer from the children (or buy another) - and give it a go.

Price: £9.75

A book that helps identify and utilise ferrous and non-ferrous metals and plastics suitable for home workshop use. Covers abrasives, adhesives, bearing materials, electroplating solutions, fuels, gases, lubricants, pickles, polishing materials, sealants and solders.

Price: £9.75

Expert Stan Bray introduces the fascinating world of horology. Terminology and details of different clock constructions are explained including layout of wheels, and escarpments. Manufacturing techniques, materials and tools are clearly described in a way that the beginner can understand.

Price: £9.75

Harold Hall, well-known contributor to and Editor of “Model Engineers’ Workshop” has written a interesting book which, once worked through, will equip the beginner with both a range of practical skills and a number of useful workshop tools and equipment. No previous experience is assumed.

Price: £9.75

Harold Hall’s carefully paced book leads beginners through 12 well-chosen projects designed to build a repertoire of skills and knowledge. Once practised these will enable anyone to get the best out of their lathe and make almost any component.

Price: £10.85

Bob Loader has written a well-illustrated and clearly explained book that will assist the owner of a Unimat 3 to get the very best from his lathe by making a number of very useful accessories not available from the manufacturer and impossible to obtain otherwise.

Price: £9.75

Another Harold Hall very useful book that offers a complete self-tuition course by means of four simple and four more complex projects.

Price: £9.75

Brian King, an award-winning marine modeller, has distilled his considerable experience of this art into a complete guide for the novice.

Price: £9.75

Radial work on a machine tool – cutting gears, drilling rings of holes, etc. – calls for special equipment & knowledge. Harold Hall explains the principles and shows how simple equipment, as well as rotary tables and dividing heads, can be employed.

Price: £9.75

A long-awaited book that demystifies the “black art” of sharpening lathe tools, end-mills, slot drills, side and face cutters and drills, etc.

Price: £9.75

A collection of 18 unique projects that enables the model engineer to create useful items some of which cannot be bought.

Price: £9.75

Every working model includes bearings – this book describes the many types – plain, ball, roller, linear, oscillating, coned pivot, jewelled, plastic, ceramic, etc. - their materials, applications in full-size and models, installation, care, lubrication, seals and maintenance.

Price: £9.75

An overview of the grinding, lapping, honing and polishing of metal, as well as the materials used to make grinding wheels, belts and papers. The uses of machines and grinding mediums are described, including the off-hand grinder, modern miniature hand/drill grinders and lathe toolpost grinders.

Price: £9.75

Contains a comprehensive range of mathematical data required in the workshop, and by those designing a wide range of engineered items. It provides in a single concise volume data that is only otherwise available by reference to many different sources or more expensive publications.

Price: £9.75

A complete course on using and improving the mini-lathe – the best-selling item of machinery in the current hobby engineering market. It explains everything from setting up and ‘tuning’ the machine for best performance to using accessories and carrying out tasks.

Price: £9.75

The metalworker’s Workshop By Harold Hall, a former editor of Model Engineer's Workshop. A complete guide to the building or converting of a workshop intended for metalworking.

Price: £9.75

This book deals with all aspects of lathe use: selection, installation & operation. Included are examples of older more traditional machines as well as newer types.

Price: £9.75

A guide by Alex Weiss PhD on choosing machines tools for the home workshop: lathes, a milling machines or combination lathes/miller manually operated or CNC. Descriptions and technical data about the wide range of machines and accessories.

Price: £9.75

A practical guide to running three-phase equipment on single-phase electricity supplies. The book provides exact calculations, step-by-step instructions with photographs and diagrams and covers electricity supplies in the UK, North America, Europe and the rest of the world.

Price: £9.75

How to choose and use a milling machine and employ its accessories - including angle plates, cutters, cutter-holding chucks, dividing heads, rotary tables, vices, boring heads and other vital items.

Price: £9.75

Completely revised and updated edition covering wood-turning lathes.

Price: £19.99

The Compact Lathe. A book that explains how to get the best from a Unimat 3, Toyo, Cowells, Flexispeed, Peatol or similar small lathe. Second Revised Edition. The author brings his experience to bear in helping the beginner make the most of these lathes' surprising versatility.

Price: £12.75

This handy reference is intended to help woodworkers get the most for their money - by getting the most from their equipment. Discover the techniques and tips needed to maximize a lathe's performance.

Price: £9.99

The long-awaited reprint of the definitive Myford book covering the ML7, ML7-R and Super 7 lathes.

Price: £12.95

A Beginner's Guide to Woodturning from Start to Finish. A woodturning book for true beginners. Learn about choosing lathes, the right tools, wood-shop set-up and more.

Price: £13.48

The art of ornamental turning has a long and distinguished history and has recently experienced a renaissance.
In this book, TD Walshaw has drawn on many years' experience to produce a definitive guide to the art, aimed not only at the experienced turner but also at the novice.

Price: £17.99

Internationally recognised as the definitive introduction to woodturning, this expanded and fully updated edition contains seven new projects, an entirely new section on bandsaws and pillar drills, and important information on the latest equipment.

Price: £19.99

Now in its sixth edition, this book is the definitive work on the small precision lathes for watchmakers, past and present. The chapter 'Lathes of the World' is a source of detailed information on lathes and accessories, the manufacture of which ceased many years ago.

Price: £20.00

Not a "how-to-do-it" book but an invaluable collection of data, procedures, tables and facts accumulated by Tubal Cain over a lifetime's experience of building models.

Price: £12.75

A 408-page book essential reference for the beginner. It covers, in a carefully-explained, and clearly-illustrated format, all basic techniques: reading drawings, equipping a workshop, buying materials, marking out, sawing, filing, bending, forming, joining metals, turning, screwcutting, etc.

Price: £23.00

An excellent primer on a subject that helps with the construction of either a relatively simple or highly complex model. Although some familiarity with machine-tool procedures is assumed, even the novice lathe owner will be able to follow the procedures and achieve success.

Price: £9.75

How to construct a simple oscillating steam engine. The four projects described are an ideal introduction to the delights of machining and building your first live-steam model.

Price: £9.75

More interesting details (carefully written for the beginner) showing how to construct easy-to-build but effective little engines.

Price: £9.75