Amateur Books

This book had very creative and unique ideas. It's just what I was looking for! The pictures were a great help and gave a good visual aid on how to use the projects. The instructions were very clear and having the per centages on how to enlarge patterns was great.

While I was thumbing through my new book, a good friend was looking over my shoulder, and asked if I would buy her a copy. We were both very impressed with the color pictures and great ideas. Instead of ordering through her book club we decided to look at Amazon.com. There is was.

As one who has had the pleasure of knowing Robert and Gertrude Metcalf while they were professors at Antioch College, and of having seen their beautiful work, I can see in this superb handbook the artistry of design and the love of their craft that distinguished the work and the teaching of these fine artists.

The book is well-illustrated with photographs (including 8 pages of color plates), and drawings. It covers all aspects of making stained glass in a manner that even inexperienced hobbyists can follow. Divided into four sections, the book covers the origin and history of stained glass, including a classification of the periods, styles and the various types of windows; a comprehensive list of materials and tools; how to set up one's own shop; and what the authors have called the Evocative Technique, which guides the craftsperson on how to work one's own designs into glass. Projects are included that increase in complexity, so that there is much here for those who have already covered the basics.

Anyone interested in the history of stained glass making, or wanting to either improve upon or begin developing this fine art, will find this work indispensible. It is clear that this book was for Gertrude and Robert a work of art in itself. I recommend it highly.

This is primarily a book about astronomical mirror fabrication, and a very good one. Although it discusses the fabrication of three different telescopes, a 5" Newtonian, a 10" Newtonian and a 12" Cassegrain in some detail, don't imagine it's like Richard Berry's classic, "Build Your Own Telescope". Berry's book is concerned principally with fabrication of the mounts and includes cautionary, almost discouraging comments on optical fabrication, but nevertheless includes a couple of very good chapters on elementary optical work near the end of the book.

A "Manual for Amateur Telescope Makers" on the other hand, is more in the tradition of Jean Texereau's classic, "How to Make a Telescope", but is a far more readable and modern format. Using the three different telescope designs mentioned above, it introduces the reader to progressively more demanding concepts and techniques. Abrasive selection, grinding and polishing technique, Foucault testing, fringe testing flat mirrors, judging acceptable tolerances, defect correction, wire test, caustic test and telescope window fabrication are just a few examples.

There are a couple of features I really liked about this book. It has little "tip" boxes in the style of computer books. Things like "A Few Essential Rules for Polishing", "Dealing with a Severe Turned Down Edge", "Blocking Pitch, How Thick" or "Advantages and Disadvantages of the Caustic Test" to give just a few examples from dozens in the book. The text is always succinct, clear and authoritative. Did you know that the thinner the wire, the more precise the wire test and that the diameter of the wire should be slightly larger than the opening of the slit? There are lots of tips and answers to questions that many ATMers have no doubt asked and not been answered in Texereau or Ingalls' books.

In this day of cheap, value for money, mass produced telescopes, why bother to make a telescope anyway? The authors give the following reasons: it enables you to understand your own telescope more fully, it's exciting and it saves you money. Somehow these explanations seems to miss the excitement felt by those who have successfully completed quality instruments. Certainly you'll understand your scope far better than buying one off the shelf. However you'll probably be able to buy a reasonable second hand or even new small aperture (8" or less) scope for about the same price as making your own. Larger telescope fabrication does offer the chance to save quite a bit of money. Mastering techniques of optical fabrication, on the other hand, opens a new world of possibilities to you. Make your own large aperture mirrors, Cassegrain or TCT optics or whatever your imagination suggests. No longer are you confined to the design ideas of the engineers at Meade, Celestron or any other telescope makers, however worthy their thoughts may be. As the authors say, "... the figuring and testing techniques used for the 300mm mirror can be applied in the making of 375- to 500-mm mirrors."

My advice to readers concerning which books to buy about telescope making is this:
If you're a half reasonable handyman and want to get a mirror and build a scope for as little as possible, buy Richard Berry's "Build Your Own Telescope".
If you're a half-reasonable handyman and want a big mirror and scope, but optical fabrication is not your interest, Berry and Kriege's "The Big Dobsonian" just can't be beat. Buy a big mirror.
If you hanker for a deeper understanding of telescope systems and might ultimately like to make larger or more sophisticated optics and instruments of your own design, "A Manual for Amateur Telescope Makers" is the best place to start. If you've got something out of it but still thirst for knowledge, you should follow up with Texereau's, "How to Make a Telescope" and Ingalls' "Amateur Telescope Making". Then if you're still enthused, Willmann-Bell and some other publishers provide a large number of books of more specialized interest.

I have to give "A Manual for Telescope Makers" five stars although it does have some shortcomings. On many occasions it states how to do things without detailed explanations of why. It doesn't say why the authors chose a Coude type arrangement for the 300mm scope, for example, although the experienced ATMer will understand the advantages and disadvantages. Generally the book, although having a pervading tone of authority, is somewhat dogmatic and doesn't state any alternative views or areas of controversy, and it's also a little too brief in some places in order to achieve succinctness. The mount designs are briefly described, seem to be quite functional, but won't win awards for aesthetics, although they're a step up from Richard Berry's designs in "Build Your Own Telescope", which look about as boxy as a 1975 Volvo. Overall I'd say that a book like "A Manual for Telescope Makers" has been overdue and should be the first choice of novice ATMers in the decades to come. The big financial advantage of ATMing in the future will be in the fabrication of large mirrors and this book introduces the techniques involved. I love it.

There is not enough room to tell you all the benefits of this book. However the book itýs self has a unique design of a ring binder style; this allows you to open the book to a flat position and read while having both hands full of masonry items. There are clear (large) color diagrams with descriptions in English on step by step methods. There is even ýTrick of the Tradeý. If you are planning or just curious on how-to with concrete, brick, block, tile, or stone, this book is a must.

This book provides the reader with a clear view on capturing the home you desire to build. We are given the ability to use our imagination in building or renovating a home with smart environmental choices.

Ce livre est excellent. L'auteur analyse tous les mouvements, un par un. Il ne fait pas que donner des combinaisons possibles mais analyse le pensée derrière chaque mouvement. Il analyse des parties qui se sont jouée entre amateurs et maitres. Bien entendu, l'amateur perd. Mais dans ce livre, on comprend pourquoi l'amateur perd. Ainsi on comprend ses propres erreurs. Tout amateur d'échecs devrait avoir ce livre en sa possession.

If you own a boat then you understand that B.O.A.T is an acronym for Bring Out Another Thousand (dollars). Anyone who owns a boat, unless that boat is new, and has not yet been used will be forced to deal to boat maintainence issues. This book will help you to do some if this maintainence yourself so you don't have to spend a fortune to keep your boat running.

If you have a powerboat, a rowboat, or a sailboat then I recommend this book. This also makes a great gift for any boat owner.

One thing that I really like about this book is that there are lots of pictures and diagrams to help you understand what they are talking about. When you are doing work on a boat, sometimes one picture can be worth a thousand words.

It is obvious that the people writing this book really know what they are doing. This was not written by amatuers.

So if you have major repairs to deal with, or you just want to understand how your boat was built, this is the book for you.

I bought this book to guide me through the process of putting a roof on a sunroom. Very informative and easy to understand. I highly recommend it!

I checked this book out from my school library and it has so many great ideas I have to buy it. Step-by-step instructions on how to make Montessori teaching materials. Great for people who want to home school, prepare their child for school, or supplement their learning.