James Slough Zerbe

“ There is no trade or occupation which calls forth the inventive faculty to a greater degree than the machinist's. Whether it be in the direction of making some new tool, needed in some special work, or in devising a particular movement, or mechanical expedient, the machinist must be prepared to meet the issues and decide on the best structural arrangement.
Opportunities also come daily to the workers in machine shops to a greater extent than other artisans, because inventors in every line bring inventions to them to be built and experimentally tested. ”

“ The most necessary tool in a machine shop is a file. It is one of the neglected tools, because the ordinary boy, or workman, sees nothing in it but a strip or a bar with a lot of cross grooves and edges, and he concludes that the only thing necessary is to rub it across a piece of metal until he has worn it down sufficiently for the purpose.
The First Test.—The fact is, the file is so familiar a tool, that it breeds contempt, like many other things closely associated in life. ”

“ Invention Precedes Science.—Occasionally inventions were brought about by persistency and energy, and ofttimes by theorizing; but science rarely ever aids invention. The latter usually precedes science. Thus, reasoning could not show how it might be possible for steam to force water into a boiler against its own pressure. ”

“ If he is told that the chisel or bit for a lathe has a diamond point, or is round-nosed, and must be ground at a certain angle, he naturally wants to know, as all boys do, why it should be at that angle. ”

“ So in every calculation, where power is to be calculated, first find out how many foot pounds are developed, and then use the unit of measure, 33,000, as the divisor to get the horse-power, if you wish to express it in that way.
It must be understood, therefore, that horse-power is a simple unit of work, whereas a foot pound is a compound unit formed of a foot paired with the weight of a pound.
Energy.—Now work and energy are two different things. Work is the overcoming of resistance of any kind, either by causing or changing motion, or maintaining it against the action of some other force. ”

“ Hand grinding is a difficult thing, for the reason that through carelessness, or inability, both sides of the drill are not ground at the same angle and pitch. As a result the cutting edge of one side will do more work than the other. If the heel angles differ, one side will draw into the work, and the other resist.
Wrong Grinding.—When such is the case the hole becomes untrue. The sides of the bit will grind into the walls, or the bit will have a tendency to run to one side, and particularly if boring through metal which is uneven in its texture or grain. ”

“ Grindstones, Emery and Grinding Wheels.—A good workman is always reflected by his grinding apparatus. This is true whether it has reference to a grindstone, emery, corundum wheel, or a plain oil stone. Nothing is more destructive of good tools than a grooved, uneven, or wabbly stone. It is only little less than a crime for a workman to hold a tool on a revolving stone at one spot. ”

“ It is too often the case that here a boy or a young man begins work in a machine shop, not for the avowed purpose of learning the trade, but simply as a helper, with no other object in view than to get his weekly wages. ”

“ I make this a leading text in the presentation of this book; namely, that individual merit and stimulus is something of such extreme importance that it should be made the keynote for every boy who tries to become a mechanic.
The machinist easily occupies a leading place in the multitude of trades and occupations. There is hardly an article of use but comes to the market through his hands. His labor is most diverse, and in his employment doing machine work he is called upon to do things which vary widely in their character. ”

“ If he can learn in one year what it requires three in another to acquire, in order to do it as perfectly, it is an injury to the apt workman to be held back and deterred from making his way upwardly.
It may be urged that the apprentice system instills thoroughness. This may be true; but it also does another thing: It makes the man a mere machine. The true workman is a thinker. He is ever on the alert to find easier, quicker and more efficient means for doing certain work. ”

“ If an inventor assigns his invention, and states in the granting clause that he conveys "all his right and title in and to the invention," or words to that effect, he conveys all his rights throughout the world. ”

“ Some of these devices are, the wedge, the screw, the pulley and the inclined plane. In some form or other, one or more of these are used in every piece of mechanism in the world.
Because the lever enables the user to raise or move an object hundreds of times heavier than is possible without it, has led thousands of people to misunderstand its meaning, because it has the appearance, to the ignorant, of being able to manufacture power. ”

“ Carelessness in Holding Tools.—The boy must learn that such a habit actually prevents the proper grinding, not only of the tool he has on the stone, but also of the one which follows. While it is true that all artificially made grinders will wear unevenly, even when used with the utmost care, due to uneven texture of the materials in the stone, still,p. 37 the careless use of the tool, while in the act of grinding, only aggravates the trouble. ”

“ When one end of the lever (A) goes down, the other end goes up, as shown in Fig. 129; and in Fig. 130, when the shaft (C) of one wheel turns in one direction, the shaft of the other wheel turns in the opposite direction.
It is plain that a gear, like a lever, may change direction as well as increase or decrease power. It is the thorough knowledge of these facts, and their application, which enables man to make the wonderful machinery we see on every hand. ”

“ If any metal, or material, is fused, or put in such a condition that a ray of light can be obtained from it, and this light is passed through a prism, it will be found that each substance has its own peculiar divisions and arrangements of colors. ”

“ Practice has shown the most effective way of treating different materials, so that the tools will do the most efficient work.
A tool ground in a certain way and set at a particular angle might do the work admirably on a piece of steel, but would not possibly work on aluminum or brass.
Lathe Speed.—If the lathe should run at the same speed on a piece of cast iron as with a brass casting, the result would not be very satisfactory, either with the tool or on the work itself.
Some compositions of metal require a high speed, and some a hooked tool. ”

“ If, prior to 1876, it had been suggested that a sonorous vibration could be converted into an electrical pulsation, and transformed back again to a sonorous vibration, science would have proclaimed it impossible; but the telephone does it. Invention shows how things are done, and science afterwards explains the phenomena and formulates theories and laws which become serviceable to others in the arts. ”

“ An inventor is one who has devised an invention. A patentee is one who owns a patent, or an interest in one, be he the inventor or not.
The United States government does not grant Caveats. The only protection offered is by way of patent.
A patent runs for a period of seventeen years, and may be renewed by act of Congress only, for a further term of seven years.
An interference is a proceeding in the Patent Office to determine who is the first inventor of a device. ”

“ The boy should be taught, at the outset, that certain things must be learned thoroughly, and that habits in a machine shop can be bad as well as good. When he once becomes accustomed to putting a tool back in its rightful place the moment he is through with it, he has taken a long step toward efficiency.
When he grasps a tool and presents it to the work without turning it over several times, or has acquired the knack of picking up the right tool at the proper place, he is making strides inp. 4 the direction of becoming a rapid and skilled workman. ”

“ A fly wheel is a good example. It continues to move after the impelling force ceases; and a metal wheel has greater momentum than a wooden wheel at the same speed, owing to its greater mass.
If, however, the wooden wheel is speeded up sufficiently it may have the same momentum as the metal one.
Weight.—All substances have what is called weight. This means that everything is attracted toward the earth by the force of gravity. Gravity, however, is different from weight. All substances attract each other; not only in the direction of the center of the earth, but laterally, as well. ”

“ Pressure is injurious not so much to the wheel as to the tool itself. The moment a tool becomes heated there is danger of destroying the temper, and the edge, being the thinnest, is the most violently affected. Hence it is desirable always to have a receptacle with water handy, into which the tool can be plunged, during the process of grinding down.
Correct Use of Grinder.—Treat the wheel asp. 28 though it is a friend, and not an enemy. Take advantage of its entire surface. Whenever you go into a machine shop, look at the emery wheel. ”

“ The Soldering Iron.—A large iron is always better than a small one, particularly for the reason that it will retain its heat better. This should always be kept tinned, which can be done by heating and plunging it into the soldering solution, and the solder will then adhere to the iron and cover the point, so that when the actual soldering takes place the solder will not creep away from the tool. ”

“ File Practice.—The file is a good tool to pick up first. Select a piece of metal, six or eight inches long, and follow the instructions laid down in the chapter relating to the use of the file.
Practice with several kinds and with different varieties of material will soon give an inkling of the best kind to use with the metal you have. Use the straight edge and the square while the filing process is going on, and apply them frequently,p. 62 to show you what speed you are making and how nearly true you are surfacing up the piece. ”

“ Another fault of the careless workman is, to press the bit against the stone too hard. This cuts the stone more than it wears off the tool, and it is entirely unnecessary. Furthermore, it heats up the tool, which should be avoided.
Calipers.—A true workman, who endeavors to turn out accurate work, and preserve his tools, will never test the work with his calipers while the piece is turning in the lathe. A revolving cast iron disk will cut ruby, the hardest substance next to the diamond, so it is not the hardness of the material which resists wear, but the conditions under which it is used. ”

“ It may thus readily be seen that it is the little bar of metal from which the small tool is made that needs our care and attention.
This is particularly true of the expensive milling machines, where the little saw, if not in perfect order, and not properly set, will not only do improper work, but injure the machine itself.p. 27 More lathes are ruined from using badly ground tools than from any other cause.
In the whole line of tools which the machinist must take care of daily, there is nothing as important as the lathe cutting-tool, and the knowledge which goes with it to use the proper one. ”

“ I do not find any guide which is adapted to teach the boy the fundamentals of mechanics. Writers usually overlook the fact, that as the boy knows nothing whatever about the subject, he could not be expected to know anything about tools. ”

“ Bismuth is a metal which lowers the fusing point of any alloy of which it forms a part, while lead makes the solder less fusible.
Hard Solder.—These are so distinguished because they require a temperature above the low red to fuse them. The metals which are alloyed for this purpose are copper, silver, brass, zinc and tin. Various alloys are thus made which require a high temperature to flux properly, and these are the ones to use in joining steel to steel, the parts to be united requiring an intense furnace heat. ”

“ Discs.—A job that will also afford good exercise is to turn up a disc with a groove in its face, and then chuck and turn another disk with an annular rib on its face to fit into the groove. This requires delicacy of measurement with the inside as well as the outside calipers.
The groove should be cut first, and the measurement taken from that, as it is less difficult to handle and set the tool for the rib than for the groove.
Lathe Speeds.—Do not make the too common mistake of running the mandrel at high speeds in your initial tests. It is far better to use a slow speed, and take a heavy cut. ”

“ The rule holds good in this respect as with every other tool in the kit. Use a tool for the purpose it was made for, and for no other. Acquire that habit.
Cold Chisels.—A cold chisel should never be ground to a long, tapering point, like a wood chisel. The proper taper for a wood chisel is 15 degrees, whereas a cold chisel should be 45 degrees. A drifting chisel may have a longer taper than one used for chipping.
It is a good habit, particularly as there are so few tools which require grinding, to commence the day's work by grinding the chisels, and arranging them for business. ”

“ It is constantly growing in prominence, and calls for the exercise of the skill of the engineer and the ingenuity of the mechanic. Efficiency and economy are the two great watchwords, and this is what the world is striving for. Success will come to him who can contribute to it in the smallest degree. ”