Travis Johnson
Member
- Messages
- 2,369
My Grandfather was an old machinist, a railroad machinist at that and liked his books. One such book he managed to keep despite moving several times, have a house fire and all manner of stuff, was a old machinist manual from 1914.
Now I know modern machinist books are "up to date", but somewhere along the way the authors had to decide what to keep and what to leave. Well in this modern world alot of the new books have a lot of old stuff left out.
Lately I have been reading this book as I see fit. You know, just before bed, in the bathroom, just when and where I can to glean a little extra old style manual machining methods.
One such chapter might be of interest to everyone with old machines. It tells you how to calculate the lacing, belt speeds, belt widths and pulley sizes needed for leather belting. It tells you the horsepower per given inch of width and all manner of stuff. Way too much to list here. I mean it even tells you how many horsepower you can gain by adding or subtracting belt lacing holes. It has everything!!
One such section has a list of old machinery and related specs, like did you know a 42 inch diamter bandsaw can take a 3½ inch saw blade, and requires a 15 hp motor. What about a 30 inch Jointer? 5 HP. Stuff like that and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
My point here is this. My Grandfather is VERY smart to keep this book and pass it on to his Grandson. I have learned a lot even though he is long gone. My second point is this. If anyone on here every has some technical questions they need answered about old belting, shafting, gearing and flat leather belts LET ME KNOW. I can research your questions, check it out in this book and get back to you. My answers will be based on an OLD BOOK, but I truly believe this book has accurate information even though its 100 years old!
Just remember I am not trying to be a know-it-all, a smart person KNOWS where to find the answers, the former thinks he already knows.
Now I know modern machinist books are "up to date", but somewhere along the way the authors had to decide what to keep and what to leave. Well in this modern world alot of the new books have a lot of old stuff left out.
Lately I have been reading this book as I see fit. You know, just before bed, in the bathroom, just when and where I can to glean a little extra old style manual machining methods.
One such chapter might be of interest to everyone with old machines. It tells you how to calculate the lacing, belt speeds, belt widths and pulley sizes needed for leather belting. It tells you the horsepower per given inch of width and all manner of stuff. Way too much to list here. I mean it even tells you how many horsepower you can gain by adding or subtracting belt lacing holes. It has everything!!
One such section has a list of old machinery and related specs, like did you know a 42 inch diamter bandsaw can take a 3½ inch saw blade, and requires a 15 hp motor. What about a 30 inch Jointer? 5 HP. Stuff like that and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
My point here is this. My Grandfather is VERY smart to keep this book and pass it on to his Grandson. I have learned a lot even though he is long gone. My second point is this. If anyone on here every has some technical questions they need answered about old belting, shafting, gearing and flat leather belts LET ME KNOW. I can research your questions, check it out in this book and get back to you. My answers will be based on an OLD BOOK, but I truly believe this book has accurate information even though its 100 years old!
Just remember I am not trying to be a know-it-all, a smart person KNOWS where to find the answers, the former thinks he already knows.