Gingery-Sheet Metal Technology-and other sheet metal books

I searched high and low online for a LONG time to find this book to no avail. I finally found a physical copy of it at the Library of Congress. I only had access to the book for a very limited amount of time, so the book rip is not my best quality - however there are NO other rips of this book out there that I could ever find. I figured this rip done in haste with a crappy digital camera (borrowed from my wifes purse no less as I had NOTHING else to image it with at the time) was far better than nothing. Truth be told, it's not THAT bad, I just wish I would have had more time with the book and my real book ripper rather than the make-ship rig I had to fabricate quickly on the spot to do the rip with and would have been able to do a REALLY GREAT rip for those like myself who have waiting so long for this book to finally show up in a torrent.

For those of us who already know of Uncle Dave, you love him and what he had managed to do for those of us who live to build with our own hands! If you have not yet discovered him however, prepare to have your life changed forever by his influence! :)

So, without further todo, I give you, the LONG awaited David Gingery "Sheet Metal Technology" book!

Description from Lindsay Press:

Sheet Metal Technology

by Dave Gingery

Dave's last book! It was written in the late 1980's but is only now being published. Dave's gone. I miss him. I wish he were still here so I could choke him for having put such a boring title on such an interesting book. I would have called it something like "How to Learn to Work Sheet Metal by Fabricating Something That Is Actually Very Useful."

Excerpts from the preface and introduction presented here better explain the book than I can. And the photographs speak for themselves. Neat stuff.

What I find quite interesting are the plans for the 24" leaf brake built primarily from hardwood. Before you thumb your nose at a wooden brake, both Dave and I must remind you that most early sheet metal brakes were wooden. This would be a great project for the model maker, the radio builder, or an artist who needs only a lightweight unit. Hardwood and piano hinges are commonly available.

Maybe you could build the grill, and from the lessons learned scale it up to build that monster barbeque grill you always wanted to mount in the bed of your four by four. Well... maybe not.

Great book. Gingery quality as usual. Get one. 5-1/2 x 11 softcover 114 pages

No. 1588 ... $14.95

Dave's Working Sheet Metal --->



Introduction

...The central theme of this book is the vocational application of sheet metal technology, based upon the author's experience as technician, model builder and product design engineer in the sheet metal manufacturing industry. The intention is to present the material as it is presented to those newly employed.

...In chapter II we discuss the origin and nucleus of a manufacturing and marketing enterprise in its most elemental form. This is the source of employment and there are many vocations within the system that spring from this basic craft...

It is likely that many will feel intimidated by the pattern development discussion and exercises in chapter III. In fact, not everyone can absorb such material and so it should not be a critical grading factor for every student...

...The text in the pattern development section is deliberately brief because such material simply can't be presented in lecture form. It absolutely must be demonstrated by the instructor, and the student must do the exercises in order to absorb the material. It is a step by step process rather like crossing a stream on submerged stepping stones,. You must do it several times to get good at it.

...The procedures and systems for forming and joining sheet metal are infinite in number and constantly changing. Little by way of instruction is required to understand any of them. But a discussion of the more common and most interesting systems are outlined in chapter IV.

...The basic shop in chapter V is kept very simple even though a fully equipped shop might be the preferred teaching accommodation.

...The projects are presented in a series of drawings that very much resemble shop drawings that might be used in an actual employment situation. The text on each project is deliberately brief because it would be extremely tedious to merely expound upon what one might encounter in carrying out the project...



Preface

...The book you hold in your hand was written in the mid to late 1980's, but never published. The manuscript has been in my possession since 1994 when Dad retired and I had actually forgotten about it until recently. The type set of the manuscript was from one of the earlier dot matrix printers and my OCR software would not recognize it. As a result, the text had to be manually re-typed. And the original drawings, though adequate, were hand drawn so I took the opportunity to recreate them on the computer as well.

Very little actual editing was necessary and as I worked through the book it was almost as if Dad were standing over my shoulder talking to me. So bringing this book to life has been an absolute joy and I have looked on the project as an opportunity to spend a few more months with him.

You will find the projects to be progressive in nature. That is, as you progress in knowledge, less information is supplied in the form of written instruction. The information is still there, but it is in the form of layout drawings giving you the opportunity to figure out methods to form and assemble the parts on your own. And that's what Dad had in mind. He wanted us to learn how to use our brains.

To prepare for constructing the projects in the book, I purchased a 24" pan & box brake Model #G0557 from Grizzly industrial for $189.00 and a spot welder for $300.00. The other necessary tools such as tin snips, scriber and straight edge etc., I already had in my possession. I was amazed at what I was able to produce and the quality I was able to achieve with such a small investment. And that investment could have been reduced to near zero if I had chosen to use the wooden brake presented in the book, and pop rivets instead spot welds.

The charcoal grill and the three drawer tool chest were intimidating at first glance, but I just dug in and took the projects one step at a time. Before long it became clear that what was at first perceived a difficult challenge turned out to be a breeze. And that's what Dad always emphasized. "Nothing is impossible. You can know what others know, and you can do what others do." I can testify to that from first hand knowledge....