Machinery’s Handbook

[bob208]

search morse cutting tool division pocket guides. I had all three in my box at work the one on taps gets used a lot.

[samari46]

John.K, most if not all the blanks are rex plus a few of the older American brand names. I got my first lathe a sears craftsman 6" soon after I got out of the navy in '67. That and there was a place that bought out old machine shops near where I lived. They had unground blanks as well as ones they picked up. I wasn't making much money in those years but then again they weren't asking much for the blanks either.
All this was many years ago, how about a 12"x18" surface plate?. They had a 20' storage container full of them. Frank

[country gent]

The old cast surface plates are also about gone from most shops being replaced with granite plates. Ive seen some nice cast iron plates sell at auction that didn't bring scrap weight price. Those plates were in decent shape but reworking one is time consuming to do. Did a lot of scraping using a 4' X 6' Starrett black granite plate years ago. It was resurfaced and certified every 2 years. Last time the guys came in they had the surface within .0002 on its surface. This was done entirely by hand with flat iron blocks and rubbing.

Cant think of the name for it but if you have 3 plates and scrape them to each other in the correct sequence you get 3 true flat surfaces all matched. Its a slow process and tedious but it does result in some high precision surfaces.

[bob208]

I have one of the cast iron plates used it for awhile then at a auction I got a granite plate it sets on the cast plate. I also have a small granite plate I had in my box at work. maybe the wife will use it for a head stone.

[country gent]

bob208, used to tease the boss I worked on a granite plate for my career and when I die they will bury me under one. We moved our big plate in he shop and everyone was so worried about it. I looked at them and told them Shoot its just a rock how hard can it be to move. Got a lot of dirty looks there.

[GregLaROCHE]

I guess the small pocket book I remember seeing was the one with the trig tables. I just thought there might be something with what size drill to use with what size tap etc.

So why have shops gone to granite instead of cast iron surface plates?

[alamogunr]

I guess the small pocket book I remember seeing was the one with the trig tables. I just thought there might be something with what size drill to use with what size tap etc.

So why have shops gone to granite instead of cast iron surface plates?

The twist drill vendors used to pass out plastic pocket size cards that had tap drill sizes on one side and decimal equivalents on the other. I've got several that I had the purchasing people save for me.

[M-Tecs]

I guess the small pocket book I remember seeing was the one with the trig tables. I just thought there might be something with what size drill to use with what size tap etc.

So why have shops gone to granite instead of cast iron surface plates?

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...e-plate.30593/

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...hart&FORM=IGRE

http://www.harveytool.com/secure/Con...rill_Chart.pdf

[country gent]

If you want the tap drill chart then stop in to one of the tool supply stores they may have a Starrett, Moarse, Brown and Sharp tap drill chart that's a free be. Most tool companies made these up as give away's from a nice plastic stock similar to a playing card. Most drill index's have one in them also. MSV T&S and a lot of the suppliers catalogs have tap drill charts conversion charts and other info in them besides what's for sale. We used to cut out 1/8" lexan or plexiglass 2 pieces that were 1/2" larger on all sides and glue the chart between them. Clean up and deburr the edges and they didn't stain or get brittle with age. And when oil got on then they were easier to clean up. I always wanted one of the big wall charts for in the shop. This one gave tap drills and decimil sizes of letter number fractional and metric drills. Those little plastic cards were handy but after a few years in the trade were left in the tool box, It became natural to convert from memory due to the constant usage. LOL

[john.k]

Newton s method,invented by Isaac Newton,the first man to produce a perfectly flat surface.

[longbow]

Here is a link to the 26th edition of the Machinerys Handbook:

http://theminimachineshop.com/Techni...20Handbook.pdf

[samari46]

Have a cousin who worked for one of the big aero space companies on Long Island NY. Was attending a sale from a large machine shop and did buy a large assortment of tools and machinery. When he asked about the huge surface plate in the brochure the guy told him he was standing on it. My little one rarely gets used so it gets a couple shots of the special protectant that goes on wet and dries to a waxy film. Sort of like the stuff they dip the reamers in. No rust in over 30 some odd years. Just clean off the coating use the plate and when done spray it and store it away. Frank

[Jeff Michel]

Granite is more wear resistant and doesn't raise a burr if impacted. Easier to recondition and cheaper to purchase. I "think" it was Joseph Whitworth that developed the three plate method.

[Willbird]

My dad gave me one as a Vocational High School graduation gift in 1983. Kinda crazy but back then the "thumb index" one was a LOT more expensive and most folks bought the cheaper one. Mostly I used it for speeds and feeds of various materials. In today's world I never use it...smart phone has replaced it. As others have said on tap drill sizes most drill index like Hout have the data printed in them. Also I like the Huot tap indexes too, and they also list the tap drill size.

For a person who will spend their life drilling and tapping holes it is worth learning how to calculate tap drill size. Simply subtract the lead of the thread from the major dia...Really easy for metrics...take a M6x1.0 thread, major is 6mm, lead is 1.0mm, tap drill is 5mm. 3/4-10 bolt, major is .750, lead is .1, tap drill will be .650. There are a few in the mix where no exact number, letter or fraction hits 75% thread exactly and the charts sometimes will offer two sizes.

But another thing I used machinery handbook for was taper per foot of morse tapers...each is different slightly...but again google is your friend, and often a quick cad sketch of the part combined with some google gives me what I need.

Now in a situation where the power went out worldwide for 5 years...yea the book would be REALLY good to have .

I have some older ones the they have some good data as well. Another good book if you stumble across it is "Marks Handbook".....again esp the older ones, the one I have from the 40's even details the weight of steam loco and tenders. It is sort of the plant Engineers version of Machineries....all kinds of useful stuff in there.