The 3 books in The Machinist's Bedside Readerseries are among the most popular books ever written for machinists!
Written in a relaxed style, you'll actually enjoy reading technical information.

The subtitle of the first book says it all: Projects, hints, tips and anecdotes of the trade.

These books include detailed instructions and fully dimensioned working drawings for numerous tools and accessories you will want to make for use in your shop. (Even if you're a novice, you'll find the instructions easy to follow and very detailed.) They also contain much useful and timesaving shop know-how, some of which is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find elsewhere. The information in these books has been gleaned from many and varied sources, including experienced machinists (and home shop guys) who are willing to share what they know.

One machinist reported that he got a pay raise as a direct result of using a tip from these books which  enabled his employer to do a job for a profit instead of a loss!

Click here for more details on: The Machinist's Bedside Readers.

(Please scroll down to the bottom of this page for a link to a NEW BOOK.)

Tables and Instructions for Ball and Radius Generation gives you the ability to produce balls for ball handles, ball end mill blanks and the like; also radiused corners, radiused grooves, and other shapes like bells, and machine tool feedscrew handles, all without specialized tools, fixtures or CNC equipment. (One outfit uses this book to make dies for Boeing Aircraft! They really do!)

Clockmaking for the Home Shop Machinist. Have you ever wanted to build a clock, but were flummoxed by the terms, and the plethora of strange tools encountered in most clockmaking books? Then you will want to have this book. It explains how to go about making a clock in language the home machinist can understand, using tools he can make on his existing equipment.

The J.M. Pyne Stories and other selected stories by Lucian Cary. This book is a collection of enjoyable short stories from the 1930's and '40's, about a master gunsmith and rifle barrel maker. Author Lucian Cary was a personal friend of legendary rifle barrel maker Harry Pope, and J.M. Pyne, the main character in these stories, is a rather thinly disguised Pope. The book also includes several other of Cary’s equally entertaining, instructive and uplifting stories and articles.

You will read and re-read this delightful book. It also makes a great gift for like-minded friends and shooting pals.

(Click on the title above for the complete Table of Contents.)

The Flying Chipmunk. This is a children's story - ideal for those whose fathers or grandfathers are home shop machinists! 'Munk's fondest dreams are satisfied when his curiosity nudges him to hop into a model airplane belonging to a couple of boys.

A Brief Treatise on Oiling Machine Tools - This 24 page booklet provides a lot of good info on this vital topic. The first section shows how to make a really effective oil gun (it takes about an hour, if you don't hurry). There are also nice working drwgs for drip feed oilers, and detailed info on how to add a centralized oiling system to a machine tool that was not so equipped originally, what types of oil to use on different parts of a machine, a recipe for a good leadscrew lube, etc. Tells you the where and why of oiling your machine tools. Vital info? Yes! (And for more info on oiling, see also our video on Examining a Used Lathe and Milling Machine)

IRON-MELTING CUPOLA FURNACES  For the Small Foundry, by Steve Chastain
This well written and understandable little book will introduce you to capabilities you may think are completely out of reach.

AN EXCELLENT NEW BOOK:

MACHINE SHOP ESSENTIALS: Q&A, by Frank Marlow, PE. Click the title to see full details on this excellent newly published 528 page book.