These, and many other things of like import, will require our attention throughout the various chapters.
It is not the intention of the book to make every boy who reads and studies it, a machinist; nor have we any desire to present a lot of useful articles as samples of what to make. The object is to show the boy what are the requirements necessary to make him a machinist; how to hold, handle, sharpen and grind the various tools; the proper ones to use for each particular character of work; how the various machines are handled and cared for; the best materials to use; and suggest the numerous things which can be done in a shop which will pave the way for making his work pleasant as well as profitable.
It also analyzes the manner in which the job is laid out; how to set the tools to get the most effective work; and explains what is meant by making a finished piece of workmanship. These things, properly acquired, each must determine in his own mind whether he is adapted to follow up the work.
Over and above all, we shall try to give the boy some stimulus for his work. Unless he takes an interest in what he is doing, he will[p. 5] never become an artisan in the true sense of the word.
Go through the book, and see whether, here and there, you do not get some glimpses of what it means to take a pleasure in doing each particular thing, and you will find in every instance that it is a satisfaction because you have learned to perform it with ease.
I do not know of anything which has done as much to advance the arts and manufactures, during the last century, as the universal desire to improve the form, shape and structure of tools; and the effort to invent new ones. This finds its reflection everywhere in the production of new and improved products.
In this particular I have been led to formulate a homely sentence which expresses the idea: Invention consists in doing an old thing a new way; or a new thing any way.
The Author.