Make:

In the Make: Online Toolbox, we focus on tools that fly under the radar of more conventional tool coverage: in-depth tool-making projects, strange or specialty tools unique to a trade or craft that can be useful elsewhere, tools and techniques you may not know about, but once you do, and incorporate them into your workflow, you'll wonder how you ever lived without them. And, in the spirit of the times, we pay close attention to tools that you can get on the cheap, make yourself, refurbish, etc.

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Last week, we looked at books for your shop related to electronics and microcontrollers. This week, it's mechanical systems, tools, and miscellaneous. As with last week, I polled maker staff, friends, and members of Dorkbot DC and HacDC.

And, as with the first installment, we want to make it clear that this is a seed list, not a comprehensive one. We want to know about your favorite shop shelf titles. Let us know in the comments. We'll be posting this list permanently on the site at some point and adding to it as we get more input from readers.

Mechanics

Machinery's Handbook, 28th edition
Erik Oberg and F.D.Jones
It's not often that you see "28th edition" next to a book's title, or see a non-fiction book that's celebrating over 100 years in print. It's no wonder that at least three people, Marc de Vinck, Lorin Parker from Electric Western, and Tom McCarty from Dorkbot DC, recommended this venerable tome. It's not cheap, at $60 used, but it is over 2700 pages long!

507 Mechanical Movements: Mechanisms and Devices
Henry T. Brown
Dorkbot founder and MAKE columnist Doug Repetto and our very own Marc de Vinck recommended this title. Here's the description from the book itself: "This compendium of ingenious mechanisms employs simple drawings to explain 507 of the small components that constitute complex machinery. Left-hand pages feature illustrations, facing pages offer brief descriptions of use and operation. Ranging from simple to complex, the mechanisms include cranks, pulleys, drills, wheels, and screws."

Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook
Neil Sclater and Nicholas Chironis
The fourth edition of this engineering reference looks at mechanisms and mechanical devices past, present, and future. The latest edition now covers robotics, rapid prototyping, MEMS, nanotechnology, and other cutting-edge technologies.

 

Home Machinist's Handbook
Doug Briney
Machine shop basics, geared (er... pardon the pun) to the DIYer, with everything from how to set up a home shop to how to use the various machine shop tools in it. Dorkbot Doug recommended this one.

 

Machine Shop Essentials
Frank Marlow
Another comprehensive guide to the machine shop, covering everything from setting one up to operation, to shop tips and tricks.

Illustrated Sourcebook of Mechanical Components
Robert Parmley
Elliot Williams, of HacDC, says: "This one's not on my shop shelf, but on my coffee table. It's a mind-expanding book.  Turning to a random page, 'Unusual Applications of Miniature Bearings,' has designs for shock-absorbing pivot points, cam-follower rollers, and bearings used as gears.  Random page #2: 'Flat Springs Find More Work: Five additional examples for the way flat springs perform important jobs in mechanical devices.'  This book also appeared on the PIClist,  in their "Beginning Engineer's Checklist."