I need a general reference book or at least some good wall charts to start with.

I mostly need tap, drill, clearance sizes, metric conversions, thread form details, stuff like that.

Characteristics of various grades of steels and other metals would be a nice bonus, but not crucial to me at the moment. I may eventually branch into  annealing, hardening, case-hardening, and tempering small home-built tools, and would be happy to buy a more skill-specific library then.

Is the (expensive!) Machinery's Handbook the be-all and end-all for that sort of thing or is there a lot of overly technical stuff in it that would be never used  very much?

How often do you guys actually refer to it, or do you recommend any other particular reference books or pocket references instead?
I'd rather spend 25 bucks than 115, of course, but only if most of you find it (M.H.) somewhat less than indespensible.

I'd appreciate your opinions ...
                                                 
                                                   Ron

I started a thread on this subject, and sadly it has slipped into the archives
http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=6&f=49&t=302320



A lot of the stuff that is in the machinery's handbook is available on line. I don't use mine to much, but I wouldn't be without it either.
I did use mine the other day to check pitch diameter on some threads, using thread wires.

Thanks for the info.
I'm somewhat  pleased to see that you recommended some books that I already own. I currently have all four of the Brownell's "Kinks" volumes and used to own a copy of Guy Lautards First Machinist's Bedside Reader, but I gave it away to a machinist friend in exchange for a bit of "teaching time".
Great stuff, certainly. I should pick up some more of Lautard's work. I love his style, even if he is a Canuck!
I never thought to check Amazon; Machinery's Handbook. there it is 20 bucks less than it is from Mc MasterCarr, if I end up getting a copy.

Here is the rest of that thread.




productivity.com sells the machinist bedside reader set for $67.85 It's on my short list. I also plan to get the gunsmith kinks books soon.

A lot of the material in Machinery's Handbook does not change from edition to edition.

The one on Amazon is the 28th edition.

I bought the 24th edition (published in 1992) at a used book sale a few years ago for $6.00. It was "withdrawn" from the reference section at a local library, presumably when they bought a newer edition.

If you check around, you might find a deal like that one (unless there is some material in the latest edition that you absolutely must have)...

I also found a nice new Starrett Tap/Drill wall chart on Ebay for $7,95.
It's poster sized and will look great on the shop wall, besides being a quick reference.

That's a great idea; I'll look around some more for an older version.

A 50 year old, or older, copy is good enough.  The home shop guy is about 50 years behind the state of the art anyways.

There is a huge amount of information in the 1950's edition I have, but about the only thing I use it for now is thread pitches.  I'm sure I could make or find a wall chart online with this in it.  Most any other information you can find on online, but it makes for good reading to flesh out gaps in your knowledge.

The tall center drawer of a Kennedy or Gerstner chest is made to fit this book.  It fits with about 1/16" to spare!

Machinery's Handbook 27th edition http://www.scribd.com/doc/31530531/Machinery-s-Handbook-27th-Ed

I was going to tell you the same thing.

I got two from Precision Drill today just for walking into a shop.



Not bragging, just saying check out your local tooling stores.



 

I'll do that before I order one.
 Think Fastenal might carry them? They have a new store nearby, but I've never been inside it. Don't know if they have stuff other than nuts and bolts...
Other than that, I don't know of any machine-shop supply stores within driving distance.
 All my stuff seems to get here in a big brown truck., from Brownells, MSC, McMaster Carr, etc.

My local Fastenal store has a good supply of bolts, screws,  etc. - much more diverse than Lowes or Home Depot. If you use such things its worth going in and getting acquainted.

I had never heard of Fastenal until I saw this discussion. There is a Fastenal location nearby.

Is it actually a "store" where yoou can browse and touch the products, and where products have price tags on them, or is it a counter like a typical electrical or plumbing supply house?

Do they only sell to "accounts" or do they also handle walk-in customers?

Is it something like a Graybar store where walk-in customers get charged outrageous prices that are much higher than what the regular customers pay?

Just google - industrial supply "insert your zip code"



Or call some local machine shops.  If you live in a decent sized there has to be a tool dealer somewhere.