English and American Lathes
by Joseph G. Horner
reprinted by Lindsay Publications

From 1900 comes this incredible and, apparently, very rare volume which takes you, the reader, on a detailed tour of lathes as they existed then. At that time, the Brits looked down their noses at American lathes which were beginning to be sold in large numbers in the Britain. Horner wrote this book to set the record straight by examining in detail the strengths and weaknesses of both British and American lathes and in the process comparing them.

You get over three hundred illustrations, mostly engravings and mechanical drawings and explanatory text. You'll be amazed at the variety and features that existed back then, but are rarely seen any more. I can't but help think if you're looking for an ancient lathe to restore, this might very well help you understand what's out there. Or if you've built the Gingery lathe and would like to build something more unusual of your own design, you'll find more ideas here than you can use in a month of Sundays.

Chapters include: lathes and their development, forms of lathe beds and standards, headstock spindles or mandrels, mandrels of movable poppets (we call 'em tailstocks), fitting of headstocks to their beds, fitting of movable poppets, headstock details, connections between headstock and rest, the slide-rest, light lathes, heavy lathes, turret or capstan lathes, special lathes, and countershafts. Also included is an appendix listing scores of lathes manufactured in America and Britain and the sizes available - from Pratt & Whitney and Hendey, to Greenwood & Bately and Sir Joseph Whitworth & Co, and many others.

I remember those knuckleheads in that machine shop I worked in years ago. Those little boys had used only one type of machine tool all of their lives and were sure that their lathe was the very best. Ask them how many different lathes they had used, and of course, they were forced to admit only one. Oh, but they were sure they had the best. They had no idea what existed at that time or in the past. They had no knowledge. But they were sure. And it was obvious to me their ignorance was making them look foolish. Don't you make that mistake. This book will make you more historically knowledgeable than just about any modern machinist you're likely to encounter.

Discover lathes that had swiveling headstocks. (Sounds strange to me...). Others had unusual tailstock designs, leadscrew positions, cross-slide constructions, back-gear combinations and more. You'll see gap lathes, wheel lathes, a series of treadle lathes for amateurs, and much more. Discover the engineering changes installed to improve wear, to facilitate headstock alignment, to accommodate expansion of headstock mandrels due to frictional heat, and much more.

In getting this book ready for press, I kept wishing I could have given a copy this to the late Dave Gingery back when he was developing his machines. I can only imagine the kinds of ideas he would have extracted from this. It's an historical gold mine.

Great book. Page after page of illustrations and nuts-and-bolts details. This is something any lover of machinery should have in their library. And that means YOU! Rare book. Incredible quality. Get a copy! 8-1/2 x 11 softcover 179 pages

No. 23209 ... $16.95