Hi. Was looking for a list of all the volumes in the old ( Mcgraw-Hill ) "Machine Shop Library"/ "Library of machine shop practice" series, from some where around 1910 forward.
I only remember the "Tool and Die" volume and the "Jigs and Fixtures" volume, both of which I believe were by Fred Colvin.
I know there were about 10-12 books in the set though. Does anyone know all the voilumes?
I tried using the library of congress catalog, but it doesn;t seem to support listing the volumes within the series (or mabey I just dont know how to use the system).
I have 9 volumes. Inside lists Engineering Libraries of the McGraw-Hill Book Co. There were six libraries Mining (9 volumes), Power plant (8 volumes), Machine Shop(9 volumes, Coal mining & Engineering (8 volumes), Practical Electricity (8 volumes), and Radcliffe Home Study Course in Practical Electricity (3 volumes).
The Volumes in the Machine shop library (in no particular order are.
1 "Jig and Fixtures" by Colvin and Haas
2 "Practical Mathematics" by Palmer
3 "Composition and Heat Treatment of Steel" by Lake
4 "Accurate Tool Work" by Goodrich and Stanley
5 "Grinding Book" by Colvin and Stanley
6 "Practical Die Making" by Colvin
7 "American Machinist Gear Book" by Logue
8 "Automatic Screw Machines" by Goodrich and Stanley
9 "Machine Drawing and Design" by Marshall
This set I have are all signed by Gus or Luis E. Hall 1921 I can not make out the first name might be Gus or Luis. Is there any value for this set? Incidentally Machine shop set lists in the front of the book for $20. Bob Sanders
My ex-wife used to manage a used book store (15000 square feet,just to let people know that it wasn't a hole in the wall). There was a HUGE difference in pricing between broken sets and complete sets. If even one volume of a set of 10 or more was missing, the value on the shelf was dropped by more than half. The value for the used book store to purchase from a "walk in" dropped by about 90% if a volume was missing.
That being said, in the Seattle area (lots of machinists/tradesmen around), machine technology books of the older vintages are not in great demand. The market seems to be only a handful of people who realize that the old stuff is interesting and that learning how it was done 100 years ago does often apply to today. Price on individual books of the
1900-1940 vintage varied from about $ 5 to $ 15. Sets might go as high as $ 10 each IF they had lots of drawings and photos and NOT a lot of tables and math pages.
The exception is anything with Railroad in the title...jack those by
4-10 times or more from general machining/maintenance books.
Just going by the set above (based on casual buyers), Volumes 1,2,3,and
9 have virtually no value. Volume 4, 8 and 5 have a little and the whole value of the set is volume 6 and 7. Without seeing condition and content, I'd guess the whole set would be on the shelf for about $ 60 but they would take $ 40
Different areas of the country will vary..as will finding the right buyer.
Like all things in this world, don't bet the farm on what I've said above. There are always exceptions to the rule.
I've got "Machine Shop Primer" by Colvin & Stanley, First Edition 1910. Apparently not part of the set. Pretty cool book, however. A section of numbered drawings of tools & machines, followed by a section identing the drawings, and a glossary section. I was surprised to find that they used oil-fed drills then.
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