While pride of place usually goes to a lathe or milling machine, any workshop worthy of the name will have a host of hand tools and accessories to tackle a vast range of other tasks. Yet these are often supplied without detailed instructions, or even any guidance at all. Who has ever seen an instruction manual for a file? However, with the right advice, you can get better results, make your tools last much longer and work faster with less effort.

Astronomy and astrophotography are fascinating hobbies. It is possible to create and enhance astronomical equipment and accessories using techniques and materials accessible to the hobbyist metalworker or model engineer. Written by an amateur astronomer and experienced hobby engineer, this wide-ranging book presents tried and tested ideas from the simplest of gadgets to advanced projects. Includes how to design and make refracting telescopes and how to make a Newtonian reflector around a mirror set. Instructions are given on making different types of eyepiece using stock lenses and making gadgets for collimation, polar alignment, focusing, sky quality metering and much more. Information is given on improving the performance of mounts and tripods and how to cool cameras and improve their performance for long-exposure photography. Details are given on making an equatorial platform for Dobsonian telescopes and using Arduinos and other electronic modules as part of your projects.