Bookshelf: Metalworking Sink or Swim: Tips and Tricks for Machinists, Welders and Fabricators

Feb. 9, 2009

By Tom Lipton, Industrial Press Inc., 2009, 305 pages, $44.95

Illustrated with nearly a thousand color photographs, the book reveals a process intimacy gained during the author's almost 40 years of working on the shop floor. The career experience encompasses process knowledge common to machining, welding and fabrication shops. The book presents the productivity building tips, tricks and experiences of a life's work.

Lipton writes in the everyday language of the shop and from the perspective of having done the required work himself. The intent: to present a technical knowledge guide broad enough to satisfy shop owners and managers, engineers, foremen, journey men, apprentices and hobbyists.

The book includes discussions of crossover skills like welding/machining, sheet metal/welding and design/management issues. Also presented: many examples of special work holding techniques plus one chapter entirely devoted to flame-straightening. The book concludes with lists of recommended reading and helpful Web sites.

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