Two beginners books please?

Abebooks is the book-buyer's Google.
There are several copies of each of these available for under ?4.
-adrian

Going off on a slight tangent, for anyone starting off new to this I can recommend some more books that may be useful. These are 'Mechanical Engineering Craft Studies' part 1, 2, & 3 by Greer & Howell. These were actually the coursework books I used for for my CGLI 205 years ago and I still have them on shelf and reference them for many things.
As you can imagine they were written for apprentices and cover just about everything that you would come across in the course of this, from machinery and workholding, to mechanisms, power, hydraulics, drawing, cutting tools (and how to grind them) files, scrapers, shapers, marking out and so on. De-mystifies dividing heads, lists materials and their compositions, how they machine, limits and fits, pattern development, heat treatment, and far more. I've probably said enough there, if not too much, but they are so easy to learn the theory from and can also be found at the AbeBooks site at around =A33 each. HTH
Peter

Snip
These were actually the coursework books I used for for my CGLI 205 years ago and I still have them on shelf and reference them for many things. Peter Snip
Hi Peter, You post very well for someone about 220 years old. 8^) -- Dave Croft Warrington England

I did compose that rather poorly didn't I? Too many hot toddies to blame I think, as I try and subdue this cold. The wife doesn't sympathise of course and says I'm making too much fuss about a few snivels, but they just *don't* understand that we chaps always get far more severe symptoms than they do:) To clarify, 205 was the CGLI course number!
Peter