This book is about teaching a 1907 blacksmith what he needs to know to purchase a lathe, set it up, adjust it, and operate it.

You get a fascinating book that bridges the years between Joshua Rose's "The Complete Machinist" and the manuals produced by Sheldon, South Bend Lathe, or written by Colvin. This was written (for one reason) to allow blacksmiths to cash in on the repair work that was sure to come from the excitement surrounding that newest consumer product called the automobile.

The twenty eight chapters have no titles but cover scores of topics from setting-up the headstock and using a steady rest to boring small cylinders and threading pipes in the lathe.

Hobart complains about castings that break because of poor design, explains how difficult work can be held with calcined plaster or even sealing wax, or how an overhead belt-driven grinding rig is set up, and much more.

5-1/2 x 8-1/2, 160 pages. Softcover