How to Run a Lathe: The Care and Operation of a Screw Cutting Lathe

If you own a manual lathe, you need a copy of this manual. This is the second one i've purchased. It's a machining step back in time with tips and procedures still relevant for the operation of manual thread cutting lathes. Buy it for no other reason than a history lesson and reminder of traditional vocational practices.

I'm coming at this facsimile book (originally published in the 1940's) from the standpoint of an "old school" machinist who learned mechanical drawing and lathe operation in the 60's, and it's a good fit. It covers most of the ways to use a lathe with clear prose, mechanical-style line art, and black and white photos retouched to print clearly. Those features alone put it a few steps above many of the other machine-shop books. It should be emphasized that the tooling shown in the photos and illustrations is pre-war, but the terminology is unchanged. So a tool post or a live center or a crossfeed may look more rounded off or more baroque than the same part on a modern mini-lathe, but they all work the same way. Mainly, the standards are unchanged. There are plenty of conversion charts (metric-decimal inch-fractional inch) and gear formulae for threading setups. And we still need them. I highly recommend the book.

Pros;The information is accurate and useful.A good book for beginners to own and review occasionally, especially convenient in digital form.Very economical resource.Cons;Though all its information is correct, it was all compiled over 50 yrs ago, and all equipment and technology referenced is as well.At least in the digital format, the illustrations and reference photos are barely legible.all in all a worthwhile investment for building the home or hobby machinists practical working knowledge.

I knew just from the cover and that it was produced by South Bend Lathe Works that this book would be filled with priceless gems of wisdom. And, it hasn't disappointed. Remember, though, that the copyright is 1942 so some material is dated. For instance, lacing the leather belts that run from the motor to the headstock or using lard oil for lubricating your cutting work. But, there is a goldmine of information that transcends time about using the lathe for cutting, shaping or making threads and more. There is information about setting up the lathe so it is level, oiling and maintaining the lathe, checking for proper alignment between headstock and tailstock, cutting speeds for various metals, cutting tool formation, the use of center and follower rests and on and on.

If you have an old lathe and area beginner, this is good.

Just what I needed - a how-to book that can stay in the shop next to my lathe. The cover is rubberized and should be easy to keep smudge-free. The writing style is typical pre-war American - every reader must be a young man starting his apprenticeship in the machine-shop trade, and therefore will benefit from helpful guidance in the areas of workplace neatness, respect for authority, comportment, and hygiene. All that aside, it provides an easy to comprehend picture of what a lathe is all about and how to bring out its capabilities. I'm an old man just starting out my golden years with a 1966 Mori Seiki engine lathe, and with no prior machine shop knowledge I should be able to do well with this book showing the way.

I taught myself to run a lathe from the original printing of this book!

It was an on book , i guess if you know absolutely nothing about lathes this book would be more helpful