Workholding in the Lathe (Workshop Practice Series)

I was excited to order this book to learn some root cause explanations of workholding issues and get some hints concerning workholding. Unfortunately, this did not prove to be the case. While there were some good root cause explanations, there weren't too many practical hints, and I knew most of the ones that there were. The information is quite outdated; the book was originally published in 1987, and has apparently not been updated, in spite of 7 reprintings. For example, there is an entire chapter on collets, yet there is no mention of ER type collets (ER32, ER40, etc.) as they were not yet invented in 1987. I felt that a lot of the book was dedicated to specialty chucks (cup chucks, master/slave chucks, watchmaker step collets, etc.) and such. While some of this was interesting in an intellectual way, it didn't address my original reason for ordering the book, which was to see some new interesting ways to hold different types of work in my mini-lathe. Others may feel differently. Whether or not you should buy the book depends upon what you are looking for. If it is a large number of practical hints, this may not be the book for you.

Photographs are all but worthless--black & white, poorly printed, extremely high contrast or muddy with detail almost impossible to make out on most. They (the photos) remind me of old multi-generation xerographic copies of 1950s printing. Thank goodness for some decent drawings to bring it up to 3 stars. Otherwise, good information, rather dated, but hard to find elsewhere. I have boxes of work holding devices that came with my 60+ year old lathe and now I have a chance at knowing how to use them. Just wish I could see what the photos are trying to show...

Great book. I am building my own metal shop.

This series of books is very technical. I was hoping for a high school level course but these seem more college oriented. But, I can't complain about a product being TOO good, can I?

The pictures are B & W, but the info is very helpful. I am a hobbiest, and the info is new to me and not contained in the machining books I already own.

some good points but wished it had gotten a little more into detail of working on the lathe

I am stepping up from a Unimat to a larger lathe. I found this book to be very helpful and useful.

Great book with a lot of information.

Anything by Tom Walshaw aka Tubal Cain is worth reading. Especially so, for his no nonsense, common sense approach.For any newcomer, being able to hold a job securely and safely in the Lathe is a vital skill that needs to be learnt. I would recommend this wee book to anyone getting a lathe for the first time. You will learn a lot, you will also see just how versatile a lathe can be...when holding jobs that are possible a bit out of the ordinary.Only negative is that the photos are starting to get quite dark, with each subsequent re-printing. This is something that the Publishers should take on board.

The book arrived promptly and well packaged, with correct postage pre-paid. The explanations and examples are well done for even the novice, me, to understand. I've just bought a hobby mini-lathe and this explained all that I could achieve with the standard equipment. It also guided me as to what additional equipment I needed, 4 jaw chuck, face plate, fixed 3 point steady. It also included information to ensue my set-up was correct and tips on how to check and correct.

Easy to follow book

Returning to model engineering after retiring, I remembered how much I liked reading Tubal Cain's articles in 'Model Engineer' in the 80's. This book is a superb memory jogger for me now, and everything in it is relevant,

A comprehensive guide to workholding. Clear explanations though some of the photographs are dark. Tubal Cain has an engaging style which makes the technical aspects more accessible than in other books in this series. A good supplement to basic guides and easy for a beginner to understand.