Joining metals by one form or another of soft or hard soldering, or brazing with various alloys, are run-of-the-mill jobs in model and light engineering workshops - so much so that little thought is given as to whether there might be a quicker, more efficient or less expensive means of achieving the required end. In Soldering and Brazing respected engineering writer Tubal Cain examines in detail the processes, equipment and materials, and explains what is happening in the joints as they are made with practical examples, test pieces, tabulated data etc. This is a thorough, comprehensive and, above all, useful book.

The centre-lathe is by far the most versatile machine tool in the workshop, but as soon as you depart from plain turning between centres, the question arises 'how to hold the work'. This book explains the methods and techniques required. A fundamental requirement of lathe operation, for accuracy and safety, is the ability to hold any workpiece securely and, preferably, repeatedly on the machine. While few problems arise with straightforward work on a properly aligned lathe, the variety of jobs undertaken by small workshops and model engineers is bound to give rise to occasions when how to hold work requires consideration. When great accuracy is essential, working methods and lathe set-up are vital for an acceptable result. In this book Tubal Cain discusses in his inimitable, practical style all aspects of the subject with the whys and hows, including basic lathe alignment.

In this valuable book Tubal Cain takes the reader beyond the superficial or the simply practical with explanations of the composition of steel, its additives, and the effects of different temperatures on its constituents. With a grasp of what changes are actually taking place in the metal the care needed in following the practical processes described becomes understandable and will lead to better and more consistent results. Flame, salt bath and furnace heating are detailed, with information on accurate measurement or recognition of temperature levels. For the average small workshop operative or model engineer the discourses on tool material, hardening and tempering will be of most use, and in this connection this book replaced the author's earlier Hardening and Tempering Engineers' Tools, providing a broader-based, more detailed and up to date examination of the subject.

All professional engineers have a little book in which they jot down those notes of fact, figures and formulae which they feel that they are likely to need on future occasions. It is always more convenient to look up one's own records than to wade through a lot of associated, but irrelevant material, especially as this may mean a trip to the reference library. Over a period of years, the contents of such notebooks grow to cover a wealth of vital information, and the time saved can be considerable. During his professional life, Tubal Cain filled three such books and, as a lifelong engineer, he is in a unique position to select (and add to) the material most useful to the amateur engineer. Model Engineer's Handbook comprises a compilation of those tables, facts, procedures and data which the author himself found valuable in his model engineering activities and it provides a real mine of information to which you will return again and again. Not the least of its attributes is the use, where appropriate, of data and calculations in both Imperial and SI units, so that all generations of model engineers can feel at home. In this third edition, all the existing data has been updated or re-arranged for greater clarity and much new matter has been added to provide an even more comprehensive book, indispensable to the expert and beginner alike.

Despite the growing numbers of milling machines in amateur workshops, a majority of model engineers still rely on a lathe and a drilling machine as the basic equipment.

The lathe, 'the king of machine tools', can be adapted for almost any function, but next to turning its most valuable use is for milling operations, either using the lathe itself to drive the cutters or by extending its scope by the addition of a separate milling attachment.

One of the most popular titles in model engineering books for almost sixty years was Milling in the Lathe, which first appeared in the 1920s and continued in updated and revised editions until 1983. This book replaces it, covering all the basic information it contained and adding to it from recent experiences and developments.

Drilling true and correctly dimensioned holes and cutting accurate threads are basic requirements in all engineering work, but as in all areas of engineering new materials and new techniques lead to alterations in standards. Many of these are primarily concerned with production engineering and are well documented, but others affect the quite different the discontinuation of 'number' drills and the phasing out of cycle threads; add the currently book written with the small user in mind is apparent. Drills, Taps and Dies not only provides comprehensive tables of all the tools available or likely to be encountered but also explains the differences in various types of drill and thread form and their practical applications. One of the features of the book is a thorough examination of the correct size holes for thread tapping, which in itself could save readers the cost of the book several times over, in the avoidance of broken taps!

However well equipped the workshop may be there seems to be an incessant need to make up special gadgets of one sort or another. These may range from mutilating a clothes peg to act as a 'third hand' up to major modifications to an existing machine tool. The making of such devices can be fun (indeed, some may appear to do nothing else!) but nevertheless the time taken up in 'devising the device' can often delay the completion of an important project. Shared experience is a most potent tool in reducing such delays, and can, moreover, often provide solutions to problems hitherto believed to be intractable. Tubal Cain has enjoyed more than sixty years' experience in designing and building engines and machines (in both full size and model dimensions) and over this time has made many ancillary devices. In this book he shares 52 of them with you. A number of these had been published in magazines from time to time and some were assembled in volume form about thirty years ago. The opportunity was later taken not only to reprint that book but to revise some of the entries to take advantage of user experience, to add new material and to introduce it into the popular Workshop Practice Series.