History

History of Machinery's Handbook

How It Began
Machinery's Handbook was probably the brainchild of the founder of Industrial Press, Mr. Alexander Luchars, an emigrant from Scotland, who started a monthly magazine called Machinery in competition with other similar magazines in the metalworking field, in about 1880. To produce his magazine, Mr. Luchars was fortunate to employ two knowledgeable engineers, Erik Oberg (1881-1951) and Franklin D. Jones (1879-1967), both of whom were capable of writing in clear English, and had a good command of mathematics, physics, and mechanical engineering. The monthly magazine dealt with the practice of metalworking manufacturing, publishing material on how to make metal articles, descriptions of machines and processes, and advertisements for machine tools and their builders. Throughout, the emphasis was placed on the need for practical information that could be directly applied to improve some machine, process or mechanism, although due regard was also paid to theory.

From time to time, Machinery published articles that contained basic information on various aspects of the industrial universe such as rearrangement and development of formulas, trigonometry, mechanics, strength of materials, threads and fasteners, stamping, welding and cutting, machining of various metals, gear design and manufacture, cutting speeds and feed rates for machining and similar material, in addition to its regular articles of application-specific interest in the industrial field. After many years, a substantial information base had been built up, and one or more of the three above-mentioned gentlemen began to discuss how advantage might be taken of this fund of knowledge, both to benefit the engineering community and to make a profit for their company.

The Letterpress Process
At this point, the idea for a handbook containing a selected range of the available data and information was born. In what time could be spared from editorial work on the magazine, Erik Oberg was given charge of the project to produce such a handbook. He worked with Franklin Jones for some five years to produce the manuscript for the first edition. Counsel and co-operation was given by Fred E. Rogers, in producing this first edition, which was printed by the letterpress process.

In this process, every line on each page had to be typeset in hot type metal and arranged in a typesetter's form of the proportions to fit the page, which was the same size as it is today, measuring 7 by 4.625 inches, with a type area of 6.25 by 3.625 inches. Then the individual forms were arranged in the letterpress printing machine, eight pages at a time, and printed on a sheet of paper that next had to have eight more pages printed on the other side, then be folded, trimmed and assembled into a 16 page section of a finished book of 1400 pages. The earliest Handbooks were bound in flexible leather, and had rounded corners to allow easy insertion into a stout cardboard slip cover, designed to preserve the books for many years of service. The page edges of these books were finished with gold leaf to protect them from the dirt on fingers trying to find references, and the title was also embossed in gold leaf. Because the information in the Handbook was so varied, little attempt was made to arrange it by subject matter. It was thought sufficient to include an extensive index of over 30 pages, with more than 4500 references, from which the location of any subject in the Handbook could quickly be found.

The First Edition of the Handbook - 1914
The first edition of Machinery's Handbook was published in January, 1914, and more than 30,000 copies were sold within the first two years of the book's appearance. During the first World War, the Handbook was in great demand as the call for machines of war mushroomed, and after the war, work began on revising and expanding the material to include tables, more rules, formulas, practical data and manufacturing standards that were developed in wartime to ease manufacturing. This revised and enlarged edition was the sixth in the series, and was published in 1924. The number of pages was increased by nearly 200, with new material being selected from suggestions made by engineers, shop managers, and skilled workers in the metalworking field, all reflecting developments that had taken place since the first edition was produced. In addition, the sixth edition was provided with thumb index tabs, to allow users to access specific subjects rapidly and easily, without the need to consult the index.

Logarithm and trigonometry tables, bolts and screws, screw threads, limits and gages, small tools, feeds and speeds, steels and alloys, motors, weights and measures, and index, were shown on these first thumb tabs.

Since 1924, the Handbook has been revised on a regular basis, usually on a 4-year cycle, approximately coinciding with the rate at which developments occurred in metalworking. The tenth edition, published in 1939, contained 1816 pages, and new and revised material that was not in the ninth edition took over 585 pages. With the advent of World War II there was another spurt in demand, but wartime shortages resulted in production without thumb tabs, a condition bemoaned by users, many of whom made their own tabs from adhesive tape.

The Larger Print Edition - 1998
Following close on the heels of the 25th edition published in 1996, many Handbook users were rewarded with the edition they had long been waiting for, the "Larger Print" edition. Identical to the traditional 7 by 4.625 inch "Toolbox" edition in every way except size and weight, the Large Print edition measures 10 by 7 inches, a 140% increase in size, and weighs in at approximately 5 pounds 12 ounces. To this day, the Large Print edition remains a favorite of many.

The 28th Edition - 2008
Published simultaneously in both the Toolbox and Large Print editions, both retain the very popular thumb tabs. The Handbook remains at 2704 pages, but the 28th edition index was reduced to 88 pages, from the 106 pages of the 27th edition, to give back some much needed space for other topics. New material has been added, existing material revised, and standards updated throughout the book. New material, added or revised, includes additions to geometry of bodies, spherical trigonometry, statistical analysis, fluid mechanics, plastics, GD&T, ISO surface texture symbology, taps, R8 collets, CNC numerical control programming, sheet metal work, distinguishing bolts from screws, helical coil screw thread inserts, calculating thread dimensions, ball and acme lead screws, shaft alignment, and more.

The Machinery's Handbook CD
Largely due to popular demand, two years following the release of the 25th edition, the first ever Machinery's Handbook CD was released in early 1998. The first CD included absolutely everything from the 25th edition print book, plus numerous additional pages from earlier editions of the Handbooks that were otherwise no longer available. Beginning with the 26th edition CD, Handbook pages were presented in the popular PDF format. In 2004, the release of the 27th edition CD brought interactive solutions to practical math problems, which for the first time permitted Handbook CD users immediate access to solutions for many of the equations encountered in the Handbook. The 27th edition CD also saw the addition of the Handbook's companion volume, Guide to Machinery's Handbook, included. Although the Guide requires a small additional purchase to activate, it contains invaluable resources for the Handbook user, including hundreds of examples and solved problems, interactive math solutions, and its a great help in getting familiar with the Handbook.

Today's 28th edition CD is completely searchable, and continues the trdition of including the entire printed book on CD. It also contains hundreds of interactive equations, over 500 pages of additional material beyond whats in the book, and several additional indexes for locating materials, industry standards, interactive equations, and additional contents of the CD.

1914 Machinery's Handbook, 1st Edition Replica
2008 marks the 125th Anniversary for Industrial Press and in celebration we are proud to introduce a Collector's Edition Replica of the original Machinery's Handbook first published in January 1914. This edition has the look and feel of the original 1914 edition, right down to the black bonded-leather cover, gold lettering and trim, and ribbon bookmark. Its 1500 pages make a valuable addition to any technical library.

The editors desire to continue to increase the usefulness of the Handbook, so all criticisms and suggestions about revisions or the addition of new materials are welcome.