This book covers an amazing assortment of information, from how to install a lathe to how to turn rubber, do metal spinning, mill in the lathe, and lap cylinder bores. For a concise summary of all the assorted knowledge a home machinist is likely to need to know about, this book is hard to beat.

The frontispiece picture of the very English author in necktie and shop coat working at his lathe is alone worth the price of admission.

If you get seriously involved you'll want to know more about some of the topics, but this book will get you started.

If your are starting out as a model, steam engine,gasolineengine builder or maybe just want to learn how to use a metal lathe,this is THE book. Although focused on English equipment, it's all good stuff. Many ideas, lots of pictures and helpful tips.

Hey...before I read this book I was quite uncertain which way to approach the lathe.
After having read it...I consider it "The Bible of Lathe Use".
I still may not LOOK like I know what I'm doing....but this book sure helps me along and safely.
I am still making big sticks into little sticks on the lathe...and yet I think that with this book's guidance there may just be potential for a bowl or spindle in my future.

This book covers all the basic's. Topics like Selecting, Repairing, maintaining and using a lathe (including some handy jigs). There is also chapter on sharpening techniques.

It would make a handy reference for any turner, especially for people about to start in this great hobbie.

64 pages, full color, 9 gallery pages. Step by step pictures with detailed text on how to make pens/pencils on the lathe. This book was a must for making my first pen, and a great reference as I have progressed. Pens include: Standard twist (and pencil), Dome-top, Rollerball and Fountain, Cigar pen, Flat-top click pen, Flat-top twist pen, and desk pen.

A very clear and concise presentation of what is required for making excellent writing instuments. Great color photos of all materials and instructions of each step in the selection of woods, and hardware, how to drill, match and assemble the components. The number of ways to varie the appearance of the instruments. He does not go into the discusion of lathes. He concentrates making pens and pencils and the variations that can be created. I have his other book, "UNIQUE & UNUSUAL PENS from the wood lathe" and I refer to them quite ofen for new ideas. I also refer to "TURNING PENS AND DESK ACCESSORIES" by Mike Cripps which I also use

This is a must have book for anyone that wants to learn the most sound spindle turning techniques and apply that learned knowledge to a furniture project. Get the video by the same name too.

This book has very good instructions on how to get good results in turning furniture parts. The chapter on table legs is a high point. I would give it a 10 just on that. I wish the author had skipped some of the basics since most buyers already know it. Nevertheless there is a lot of good material. If I come out of a book with something added to my work I consider it money well spent. This one certainly fits the bill.

I have just started a small pen company and this book has helped my considerable. Various well illustrated and easy to follow. It is an asset to my work.

This book is divided in two parts. The first half of the book covers the overall concepts and use of watchmaker's lathes. The second half reviews all the models that might be typically found. Not entirely encompassing list... but pretty close.

If you are considering buying a watchmaker's lathe... this is a MUST HAVE book. Also, this is highly recommended for any one who likes lathes in general.

It's obvious the author really cares about his subject. It is enjoyable to read. The diagrams are excellent.

Crazy as this sounds, the photos are very good, but actually I thought the line art of the machines (like you see in the Wall Street Journal) is more understandable than regular photos.

Originally published in 1952, it has been updated over the years in several editions. This fifth edition in 1998 incorporates much of the original material... in the areas of general concepts. Then it substantially revises the second half of the book regarding the lathes of the world that are generally found.

The book lists lots of good resources in the back -- for manufacturers, etc.

John

Turning Wood with Richard Raffan is my number one pick out of the several books I bought on wood turning. He went into the lathe, its components, safety, and techniques. The editorial reviews go into all of the subjects covered in this book, so I will not reapeat them all. What I wanted to share with you is the overall feeling of the book. You know the frustration of buying a book, and it doesn't feel right. I guess you could analyze some of the reasons why. This book feels right. The photos, the explanations, the way it is laid out, all are done in a way that makes me say, I really like this book.
I turned wood when I was in high school. Recently acquired a lathe, and wanted someone to walk me through the essentials. This book covers that. Safety is a primary concern. For example he explains, that you always want to use your wood turning chisel from the higher areas, into the shallower. If you do it the other way around, you could have a piece of wood flying into your face. It is like your skiing down the side of the mountain. I know this sounds trivial, but he is not afraid to cover the essetials for those of us renewed in the hobby.
Great book, highly recommended.

I have some experience in turning wood. I am getting back into it and wanted to freshen up on some safety items. I was having a hard time finding what speed to start turning a piece of wood I had preparted. After reviewing several book on a book store shelf, this book was the only one that actually has a chart for wood sizes and speeds to match. I think this is very, very important. For this reason alone I would give this book a 5 star rating; valuable information that other authors left out.

Great book. Very useful for a novice, particularly with regard to tool selection & use.

This book was a National Book Award Finalist, and deservedly (This Time by Gerald Stern won that year, but I haven't read it yet, so I can't compare).

Fairchild was born in Houston, and grew up in West Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. His upbringing very much shows in his work. This is the poetry of the blue-collar working class. This is very much the poetry of the west and of Texas. Fairchild writes mostly longer narratives and dramatic monologues (most with longish lines). Some of the best poems of his are: "Beauty" the 10 page narrative of the working man, and this poem is phenomenal. It is one of the best contemporary poems written. And in fact, the only modern day narrative that is better is Dave Mason's "In the Country I Remember", though not by much. There is also one of the best baseball poems in recent years (or maybe the best baseball poem ever), "Body and Soul", a great narrative that runs a few pages and touches on the truth of the human soul of the working man. Also of great note is "Keats" (it'll surprise you) and "Cigarettes" a poem that finally gives us a reason to smoke. Or at least an understanding. The other poems in this collection are also great, those four are just the best.

There are two signs that clued me in that this was going to be a great book (other than the finalist of the Nat'l Book Award). The first were the blurbs. R.S. Gwynn, the modern day Pope, says "[Fairchild] measures a world inhabited by those for whom life has made its meaning plain by constant subtraction...both real and mataphorical, that figure so prominently in this collection." Dana Gioia says of this collection: "Fairchild boldly plundesr the territories of prose to expand the possibilities of contemporary verse...These fluent poems are amnivorously intelligent. The reader never knows what will come next; but, as deeply psychological in their probings as a novel, they alwasy cohere." Tim Steele, one of the greatest of the modern metricists, says "Fairchild brings sympathetic insight to the people...he has a gift for focusing on those moments when lives constrained by psychological or economic circumstances are touched by beauty and significance." And Wyatt Prunty calls the poems "remarkably textured, genrous, haunting" .

And the other sign of this books importance is Anthony Hecth's introduction. No more needs to be said.

Once in a while the prizes go to a book that truly deserves it. This is a wonderful collection. Fairchild's poems are mature, nuanced, strongly crafted, and moving. He's particularly good at mixing narrative with lyric, as in the stunning poem "Beauty." And see if you don't think that "Body and Soul" isn't the best baseball poem ever.

B.H. Fairchild is one of the important American poets. Important for what he has to say and, even more, for the carefully crafted language in which he says it. The is an exceptional book of poetry, and, in my opinion, a manual on articulating, giving voice to, one's heart. I'm tempted here to quote from the poems, doubtlessly the best way to convey the depth and weight of his work but it's hard not to quote, practically, every poem. In a time of "no time," when efficiency has been elevated to a cult and success is measured by how much one can get others to do more work on one's behalf, Fairchild celebrates those who work, day after day, in the anonimity of hard, manual work. This book is for those readers who need to find beauty even in the dread of repetition and obscured futures. This book celebrates the men and women who no one celebrates, a treatise in soul-making written in unsentimental, yet passionate, words. How sadly woundrous that people, poets, artists of the depth and scope of B.H. Fairchild remain gold to be mined in the obscure depth of majestic mountains. Yet, just reading his masterful "Body and Soul" should be enough to proccure a miner's hat and begin to mine the rock. Like Robert Hass, but in his own way, Fairchild elevates narrative, stories, to the height of pure poetry. It might recall for you, also, the receptive and heart-breaking beauty of James Wright poems, as another reviewer so wisely pointed out. In the poem "Body and Soul," I must mention it again, Fairchild speaks of men who might have witnessed the difference "between talent and genius." I believe I, too, have such experience with these poems.

It is a bit more than a quarter of a century since Ursula K. Le Guin's classic novel of the near future was originally penned; a classic science fiction tale that is quite simply, a masterpiece. Avon Books has re-issued a new trade paperback format of the book, bringing this imaginative fable of power--both uncontrolled and uncontrollable--to a whole new generation of readers. And if you happened to see the WNET movie adaptation done in 1980, please read (or re-read) the book; as with most book to movie translations, the movie was good--but the book is just so much better! THE LATHE OF HEAVEN is the story of George Orr--a man whose dreams become reality, for better or worse. Against his will, Orr is incarcerated, then sent for psychiatric care to treat his "delusions". After a few experimental sessions, Dr. Haber, Orr's psychiatrist, realizes what is going on and decides to start tinkering with the real world...to make it better--with devastating ramifications. Like Philip K. Dick at his best, Le Guin truly gets the reader into the inner machinations of the protagonist's head--while taking sly social sideswipes at such matters as geopolitics, race, socialized medicine, and the patient/shrink relationship. And there is a reason that Le Guin has often been referred to as a "writer's writer". Her prose is artfully wrought with vivid imagery in an inimitable style which conveys more in a few sentences than others tell in pages. It is an allegorical tale in which a "miracle worker" (George Orr) comes under the control of someone wanting to play "master of the universe" (Dr. Haber). It is a dark vision and a warning--a fable of power both uncontrolled and uncontrollable--a truly prescient and startling view of humanity, and the consequences of God-playing. As usual, a brilliant novel from Le Guin, who explores many profound possibilities within the tight story; it is quite simply, a masterpiece. There have been so many works analyzing Ursula K. Le Guin's works since she vaulted to the vanguard of science fiction since the publication of her first novel in 1966--but the best way to know her work is by reading it. And if you have only read her Hainish or Earthsea novels, you are in for a pleasant change of venue

Is it fixed series of events, a string of cause and effect? Or can it be changed at a whim, changed by nothing but a dream of a sleeping man? George Orr is that man. For some of his dreams change the real world, because his dreams sometimes come true. But Mr. Orr does NOT want to change the world, he just wants to be a normal man with normal dreams.
When George tries to take drugs to end his dreaming he is sent to Dr. Haber to be cured of his fears. But what happens when Dr. Haber also realizes Orr's gift/curse is not the product of an insane mind, but in fact is real and decides to use it for the 'good' of mankind?
If you liked the book there are two movies available to watch. I prefer the older version made by WNET/THIRTEEN (PBS).

Ursula K. Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven was first published in 1971, but its message is still relevant today. Le Guin's stable of work has included space opera (the Hainish books), fantasy (the Earthsea stories), as well as science fiction (The Left Hand of Darkness). All of her works possess the familiar sense of didactic about them, however. The Lathe of Heaven falls more in the science fiction realm but is probably more accurately described as psychological fiction.

The story is set in the near future and revolves around one man, George Orr, who's dreams can affect reality. He is greatly troubled by this because he cannot control his dreams, thus he tries to stop himself from dreaming through misuse of prescription drugs. He is sent to counseling with a dream therapist, Dr. William Haber, who quickly learns the truth about George's "effective" dreaming. George just wants to be cured of this ability, but Haber sees its potential and decides to manipulate it to turn their troubled world into a better place. As Haber tries harder and harder to manipulate George's uncooperative dreams he becomes the victim of his own good intentions. This leads him down a dark road where he eventually discovers the truth of "the world after April".

The Lathe of Heaven works on many levels. Simply as a story of a man wrestling with his therapist to find a cure to his ills it is an engaging tale. But it is more interesting as a parable of how one person's attempts to do good can go awry. Dr. Haber sees the power that George Orr possesses and understands the good it can do. The world they live in is plagued by war and overpopulation and he believes that he can use George's power to rid the world of its ills. The problems with this become apparent early on, however. When Haber has George dream of a less crowded world, he conjures up a plague that wipes out billions. Thus the problem of overpopulation is solved, but with terrible consequences. It is important to understand that Haber has only the best of intentions: "The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number" is his motto. The stumbling block comes in his inability to control George's subconscious mind. Every time he tries to do good in one place, he inadvertently conjures evil in another. And this is the strength of the story. It is not about an evil character causing evil in the world, but a good person bringing evil through his inability to control the power he possesses. This should be required reading for all politicians.

At only 175 pages, this is a quick read. Le Guin's writing is accessible and fast paced. There are only three main characters in the story, George Orr, Dr. Haber, and the social worker Heather Lelache, so she does a good job of developing each of them fully. This book is considered a science fiction classic, rightfully so, but also has broader appeal because of its social and political implications. I give The Lathe of Heaven the highest of recommendations.

This one of six books by the author, each building upon the previous one. The text details how to build your own metal lathe with a minimum of ready-made parts, based primarily on aluminum castings you make yourself (as shown in Book #1 of the series).

I did not build the lathe, but I did read this and his "How to Build A Milling Machine" book. The author takes the approach of using 19th century techniques and designs, showing how to emulate them with today's hardware store components. Sadly, the books lack any color photos. There are tons of drawings, and a couple of moderately clear black and white photos.

While interesting, the machines seem to appear VERY home-made when complete. It is also clear that many, many hours are required in the construction.

Although I did find the author's "can do" approach encouraging, I think you'd be better off saving your money for a ready-made lathe...

Dave's books are fantastic. I have built the charcoal foundry, lathe, milling machine and electric furnace, and had a great time doing it. These books will teach you the common sense approach to metalworking and inspire you to do much more than you thought possible in the home shop.

I bought the whole series of Gingery metalworking books, and have learned an unbelievable amount from all of them. I've build the furnace (although mine is powered by propane) and have nearly completed the construction of the lathe. Gingery (pronounced with hard g's, by the way, as in "gruff") writes with a down-to-earth style that makes it feel like your uncle or grandfather is sitting in the room with you, sharing his wisdom. The pithy writing style gave me more than one good chuckle as Gingery describes some mistake he made and what he learned from it during the writing of the books. Highly recommended!