Machinery's Handbook

 In 1914, at the dawn of the industrial age, a thorough reference book was published for the very first time, on the subjects of metals, metal-working and the machinery used for same.

 Machinery's Handbook - referred to by many as "the bible of mechanical engineering" - was intended for machinists, engineers, and metal-workers, and contains a vast trove of information on every aspect of metal-working: trigonometry, rearrangement and development of formulas, 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 many other topics besides.

 Machinery's Handbook was the first of its kind and it came out so early that nobody has ever really come out with anything that competes with it - it is unique.  It has been in continuous publication for 100+ years

 The handbook is so popular - virtually every English-speaking machinist in the world has a copy - that most "machinist's tool chests" from Gerstner, Kennedy, etc, all have a special drawer which is sized specifically to accept (just barely) the 4.6" x 7" 2,000 page book. I don't keep mine in there because the drawer is only JUST big enough; it's hard to get the book in and out, so I keep tools in that drawer, and the book I keep on a shelf - I don't know any machinists who ACTUALLY keep the book in the tool chest drawer, but that's what that drawer is there for.

 You can read the history of the publication here: https://books.industrialpress.com/resources/history

 If you prefer videos, Mr. Pete (AKA 'tubalcain') has a good one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuJpnJLoAE8

 Because it's a reference book meant to last a lifetime, and is made with high quality printing, paper, and binding, it's expensive. I couldn't justify the cost to buy one new, but I scored a copy at an auction for nearly nothing; I won a cabinet shelf full of metal stock, odds & ends, and the Handbook... for $5.  Go to auctions, friends and neighbors. ;)

 You can get used copies in good condition for great prices at Alibris - my favorite book-finding clearinhouse for small business book-sellers. Always go there first before trying Amazon or any of the big-name book sellers. Not only will you save money, you will be supporting small business owners instead of big corporations who enjoy putting small business book sellers out of business.  Seriously though: fuck Barnes & Noble.

Tesla coil and "why so many projects?" also, "why don't you ever finish anything?"

1. Tesla coil
I am making headway on the Tesla coil, and have redoubled my efforts (in between trying to do real work for real money, about which more down below) because a friend is opening a very cool new art-nerd / techie arts & crafts type store in Denver, and very much wants to have an impressive Tesla coil at her grand opening in March, which is, um, roughly a month away. Oi. We'll see. I'm trying.

2. "Why do you have so many (unfinished) projects?"
I suffer from ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder, and have my entire life. It's been marginally worse since I had a protracted fever a few years ago. I now take Ritalin, and it has changed -- or I should say 'is changing' -- my life. Sadly, that's 45 years too late, but better late than never.

In the past, whenever I hit a snag in a project that I couldn't get around, I tended to find other things to occupy my hands while thinking about how I could get back to work on the other project, with the least added effort and expense. Quite often it's lack of an expensive part of material that holds me up. Whatever the reason that one, or two, or three projects are on hold, I need something to occupy my time.

Another reason for having multiple projects is simply that some of them are inter-related. I need a good working vacuum system (among other things) for several other, larger, experiments I'd like to do. The micro-Marx pulser is needed to trigger the experimental gas switch I've completed, but have not yet tested.

And while I have had a life-long tendency to take too long to finish projects, I am in fact finishing projects now that I am on the Ritalin. I have more perseverance and much more focus than ever I ever enjoyed before.

Unfortunately, having my job yanked out from under me due to a reorganization left me unable to pay for materials and parts. I also need to spend time looking for work AND trying to identify and reach my own customers for work that I can do with my own resources.

And finally, health problems of one sort or another continue to interfere with my ability to get things done.

All that said, more progress has been made on my various "mad science" / research / hobby projects in the last year than in the previous ten.

I've also been posting videos occasionally to my YouTube channel, which is HERE.

new web site(s) & domain & business

As I've had more and more inquiries about me doing independent (read: self-employed) technical work of various sorts (REALLY various) it's become clear I need more of a business identity, probably more than one. Some things I do don't mix well with each other, or rather, the customer bases might not.

So at least one new web site will soon be up at my shiny new domain, bill-lemieux.com

Watch this space, but be patient. The last time I made a web site, web sites were new, and I did it the old fashioned way, editing HTML by hand in a text editor, the way Tim intended, up hill, both ways!

So it will be a day or three, at least. My web-mustering skills are so musty and dusty as to be effectively non-existent for use in today's web. style-sheets? FRAMES??