2006-10-26 A useful book, but appallingly written

Sadly, this is probably the best book if you have a new milling machine and no experience. But I say sadly because it's so badly written it's really difficult to follow. The contents page and the author's remarks set out a sensible sounding plan: take the reader through several simple projects to learn by doing. But the author gets diverted into the technique-specific lectures he says he's going to avoid (which ruins the flow of both the projects and the technique instruction).

And the prose seems to have been copied from one of those manuals supplied by Chinese machine-tool manufacturers who don't really know English. Try this, the very first sentence in the book: "Using the milling machine does not include the range of operations that are available when using the centre lathe as the machining process varies little from task to task." OR this: "The reason for this is that a cut starts at full depth and reduces to zero whilst in reverse the opposite is true ...". Lastly, on the important subject of Climb Milling (or not), it is wholly unclear whether he is recommending it or warning against it. Since this is something very basic for a new mill operator, that's a serious criticism.