Written by a shop peer from the perspective of having done the required work. Includes numerous photos and illustrative stories that help users easily understand the material presented and the techniques provided. Contains a chapter on flame straightening techniques. Offers many examples of special workholding techniques. Covers crossover skills like Welding/Machine, Sheetmetal/Welding, and Design/Management.

This collection of priceless tips, tricks, skills, and experiences from a veteran of the trade is presented in a way that captures the attention of users and engages them in the process of furthering the art. It includes shop-tested descriptions and illustrations of creative and unique skills and observations from almost 40 years in the metalworking trades. What's more, it offers enough material from several metalworking trades to start a great research and development shop. It is sure to be a valuable and time-saving resource for anyone involved in the fabrication of metal.

• Diving In - Welcome to Sink or Swim
• Personal Learning Attitude
• Shop Environment
• Thursday Nights
• What's A Journeyman Anyway? Format
• Brain Food - Communication
• Drawing and Sketching
• Minimizing Screw Ups
• Accuracy
• Speed
• Shop Math
• Mass, Volume, and Area
• Angles and Shop Trigonometry
• The Metric System
• Computers and the Metalworker
• Dumb and Dumber
• Want to Make a Million Dollars? Somethings That Really Need to be Invented
• Bean Counter Lounge
• Get the Shop Set Up - Floors
• Light
• Food Preparation Area
• Food Consumption Area
• Heating and Cooling
• Workbenches and Tables
• Air Supply in the Metalworking Shop
• Raw Material Storage and Handling
• Material Identification and Characteristics
• Safety Equipment
• Tool Crib
• Benchwork
• Filing
• Saws and Sawing
• Rigging and Lifting
• Manual Lathe - Threading in the Manual Lathe
• Multiple Start Threads
• Manual Milling Machine - Bridgeport Mills
• Suggested Improvements
• Spherical Surface Generation in the Manual Milling Machine
• CNC Mill - Working with CNC Equipment
• CNC Mill
• CNC Lathe - CNC Lathe Programming
• The Welding Shop - Getting Started
• Layout Work
• Some of My Favorite Hand Tools
• Welding Table
• Brake Bumping
• The Lost Art of Flame Straightening - Limitations
• How Flame Straightening Works
• Straightening Shafts and Tubes
• Special Applications of Heat Shrinking
• Sheet Metal Shop - Layout Work
• Blank Length Calculations
• Patterns
• The Yank Method
• Box and Pan Brakes
• Forming and Layout of Cones
• Tanks and Baffles
• The Abrasion Department - Sanding, Grinding, and Abrading
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
• Radius Grinding
• The Junk Drawer - Miscellaneous Tricks Without a Home
• Ideas for the Shop Floor
• Closing Thoughts
• Recommended Reading List.