1 comments about 1800 Mechanical Movements, Devices and Appliances (Dover Science Books).

1. To get 1800 things into this rather small book the descriptions are necessarily quite short I guess, one sentence in most cases and allot of them seem to be rather cryptic. Not really very useful or informative. Keep this one by your toilet for a quick glance once in awhile maybe.

5 comments about Design for Six Sigma.

1. While the concept of six-sigma is a very popular one, it is not often that one can find such a comprehensive yet clearly-written volume devoted to the most important topics of six-sigma. A book that contains so much information and not just hot air is especially hard to find. Yang and El-Haik have successfully written one of the most impressive and useful reads I have ever encountered within this field. Especially intriguing and novel concept of TRIZ. A very worthwhile book, in any case.



2. This is a book with a lot of information. Each chapter can be used as a starting point for a specific six sigma technique. However, this is the worst edited book I have ever read. You can hardly find one page without errors/typos.



3. This is an outstanding DFSS book for production development. It contains integrated information and some of which you could hardly find anywhere else, thus with one book in hand, you have all the tools to get to your destination. This is also a easy to read book providing the reader with a solid understanding- Concepts are clearly defined, real world examples/ case studies are fully described and the chapters are well organized. It can serve as a textbook for students/beginners and also can serve as a handbook for experienced engineers.
   The title says it all- this is a roadmap for you to find the way correctly and easily. I am reading the book right now, and the book is really beneficial to me.



4. I have not found such a comprehensive book for design of six sigma. I started using this book for advanced experimental design and taguchi methods, but ended understanding the complete roadmap for design of six sigma. The systems approach allows an enthusiast reader to start anywhere, without having to spend time refering back to earlier chapters. The relatively newer trends as TRIZ and axiomatic design have also been nicely dealt with.
   Overall, this is a very nice and easy read book, with excellent and well defined examples. A must for everyone who wants a quick refresher on the design principles of six sigma.



5. If you decide to buy this book take a good deep breath. You should be good enough in algebra, and you should be quite comfortable with some six sigma basics. This book gives a good explanation in TRIZ and in the DFSS algoritm.
   The axiomatic design could be better (lack of examples). It is well written.

5 comments about SAP R/3 Plant Maintenance: Making it work for your business (SAP Press).

1. This is a very useful book on SAP PM.This covers recent Version of of SAP PM ie 4.6x.Flow is smooth.Transaction codes are also available for quick navigation.



2. There have been good reviews or this book, but somehow I do not think it suited me as much as I would have liked. Nevertheless, it is a helpful reference that enabled me to refresh some concepts on the field of Plant Maintenance in SAP.



3. Rather than trying to be a detailed guide to Plant Maintenance, a comprehensive reference book, or a source of answers to complex problems, Stengl tries to teach the fundamental concepts of SAP PM.
   
   A very basic introductory book that demystifies the PM module. Aimed at the newcomer to SAP R/3, the book is a great guide. And a guide any new traveler must have to navigate the highways and back roads of SAP. It works best as a supplement to a SAP-PM course, but lacks the depth of a resource book.
   
   In Chapter 4 - "Objects in R/3 PM", the authors do a good job of explaining the relationship of Functional Locations, Equipment, PM Assemblies, and Materials. Chapter 5 attempts to tackle breakdown and corrective maintenance, having worked as a Maintenance Planner, my first reaction was humor. In a perfect world, the roles of Maintenance Planner, Maintenance Technician, and Maintenance Controller would be this structured and defined. In the real world things are not so black and white.
   
   Buy the book if you are new to SAP PM. It is a nice entry point. If you are approaching the Plant Maintenance with prior SAP experience then I recommend skimming the chapters in a bookshop before buying online.



4. A good resource, help tool for SAP users. You will need to be somewhat familiar with SAP to appreciate this book, however, I would recommend purchasing it as a reference tool. Easy explanations and complete.



5. It is very good book to map business process between Client & SAP R/3.
   Every Functional Consultant should have this book as a refference.

5 comments about Measure Twice, Cut Once: Simple Steps to Measure, Scale, Draw and Make the Perfect Cut-Every Time. (Popular Woodworking).

1. This book really surprised me. I was hopeful that it didn't simply tell you how to read a tape measure. And I was right. Just about any experience level will learn something from this book but the person new to woodworking will learn the most. I'm somewhat in between beginner and moderate experience and I was impressed. You learn some really nifty tricks for getting accurate angles, finding bisecting angles, working with arcs and more.
   You also learn how to lay out a project to save material (and make your work easier).
   Believe me, you will enjoy reading this book. Well written, informative and lots of clear color photos and other illustrations. No sloppy, halfhearted drawings in this one.



2. I've finally read through this book. It was what I expected and I would recommend it for people to learn layout and how to go from a drawing to the work bench. It is a general book that gives you solid principles on measurement and proportion.



3. I don't know about you, but after years of hanging around serious woodworkers, constantly tuning and improving expensive equipment, and buying measuring tools accurate enough to build a space shuttle, I've come to the conclusion that accuracy is a goal never quite achieved. And that is if you are lucky. I can't tell you the number of times I've cut four boards of 'precisely' the same length, run them through a locked down finger joint jig, and managed to produce a box that is 1/16th of an inch wider from side to side than it is from front to back. So when I found Jim Tolpin's book I grabbed it on the hope that it contained the one secret I had missed.
   
   Unfortunately, if you've spent three years woodworking you already know most of what is here. Tolpin's secret is simply the rigor of working through stages of drawing and then cutting to the drawing. Now I already use a drawing package to lay out work, so I can reel off life size diagrams that tell me everything is 1000th's. And I find it far more accurate to use the diagrams for assembly and rough measurement and fit every piece by hand. If for no other reason than the tendency of wood to change size with temperature, moisture, and the will of God. Tolpin's explanations are helpful if you don't use a design methodology at all. But if you follow his advice slavishly, you will through out more wood than you should.
   
   What I did find very useful is his final section on what to do when you really don't get it right. Several of his tricks for changing the dimensions of a piece of wood which is the wrong size at the wrong time will save you the cost of the book in one cut. These aren't necessarily easy techniques, but they are far better options than giving up. I also found the pictures of some of his more exotic measuring tools very interesting. Although it will be a long time before I spend $200 on a depth gauge. There is a good section on proportion as well. Tolpin does describe some jigs, but there aren't any plans for them. For those you will have to look elsewhere.
   
   I also wish Tolpin had spent some time on computer aided design - at least enough to show what it can do. More of us already have the equipment around, and it can save a lot of time and erasing. Still, if you are just starting out by yourself, without access to training, this is a useful volume to have on hand. It gets you past the point of thinking that creating a cabinet is a combination of magic and pure luck.



4. Tolpin delivers an excellent piece that seems designed for intermediate or seriously aspiring woodworkers. My guess is that it would scare off novices rather quickly. I think I fit into the right target audience, and I enjoyed the book enough to read it cover-to-cover in two sittings. I will not, however, follow all his advice - at least not yet in my woodworking career. He explains great techniques for the mechanics of going from idea sketches to scale drawing, to life sized drawings. Like I said, I think my level is where the book is aimed, but frankly, the artistic part of design is where I feel the weakest, and his book doesn't help a whole lot there beyond the golden ratio. I didn't expect the book to do that for me, but neither did I expect it to spend time on drafting. Since I do not yet feel comfortable with coming up with my own detailed designs, the mechanics of putting the designs on paper are not that useful to me yet. Further, if I ever get to that comfort level with design, I'm not sure I will need the drafting process to implement them.
   
   btw, the title for my review is based on the fact that Tolpin, like most, recommends that you keep measuring off of rulers (etc.) to a minimum and use story sticks and the like whenever there is more than one piece to cut to a particular length.
   
   Bottom line is that I would buy the book again, and would probably replace it if lost or destroyed. It would not be at the top of my list, however, and I would not give it as a gift to a raw novice who was just trying to see is s/he liked woodworking.



5. This book really helps to understand things so basic that many designers (architects) have forgotten all about them. Like the Golden Rectangle and the Fibanacci (sp?) progression - which result in pleasing relationships in furniture or buildings. There are many many other ideas for helping you design great looking woodworking projects - recommend it highly.

5 comments about New Edge of the Anvil: A Resource Book for the Blacksmith.

1. Jack Andrews' "New Edge of the Anvil" is a great book for getting started in blacksmithing. It has clear text, detailed pictures, and inspiring blacksmith's profiles. I find myself referencing it often. Highly recommended.



2. This is my 1st year to pursue blacksmithing. I have read a number of books on the subject, but I am not a seasoned smith.
   
   I have seen recommendations for this book several places on-line, so I had high hopes. The book starts by identifying the tools, then covers a few basic projects, adds some metallurgy information, then we get a portfolio of beautiful works by Master Craftsmen. The section on performing a spark test using a grinder could have used some color photos. I would have liked a few more projects, and maybe a few more drawings.
   
   The book was good as far as it went, although the edition that I received in 2006 had several awkwardly phrased sentences. It was almost as if the writer was interrupted in mid sentence, or went back to edit a sentence and left extra words in.
   
   For my own library, I will keep this book, but I am still looking ...



3. This is a great book to learn beginning blackmisthing.. I've bought or found a dozen or so books and this is the best.



4. Reading this book makes we want to get out into the shed , stoke up a fire and start pounding metal on the anvil.
   It will enlighten you to this art and show you fundamentals of this process.
   Excellent book that will open your eyes and let you appreciate the skills that are achieve by these craftspersons.



5. I am new to the art of blacksmithing, This book has realy opened up the world of blacksmithing to me, Would I recommend this book. You bet...I got a good deal from amazon and I feel the money was well spent..Tom

5 comments about Design of Experiments for Engineers and Scientists.

1. This book will prove an asset for Engineers, Managers and Research students. Statistics was never so simple and easy to learn as described in the book. The more you read, the more you will want to know about DoE. Its a good way of explaining DoE through 8 practical examples and case studies. The book helps in developing a good understanding of the theory of DOE and pratical way of using and analysing the same. I feel that this book is must for Managers and Students



2. "This is a Must-Have Concise Textbook for individuals wishing to understand the essence and essentials of the Design of Experiments (DOE) subject matter in a minimum of time. For its relatively smaller size and greater depth of coverage, the textbook is excellent, providing a clear, concise and very effective treatment of the useful and revealing body of knowledge composing DOE. For emphasis, the text explains fundamental DOE concepts effectively, while the breadth of topics coverage is very rich. High school and college students, scientists and engineers, professionals and researchers all alike, can deploy the techniques presented in this DOE text to deepen their understanding of processes with particular respect to experimental process variables effects, their magnitudes and interactions; furthermore the textbook provides direction for the optimization of the processes being studied."
   
   Abayomi Ajayi-Majebi, PhD, PE, CMfgE
   Professor of Manufacturing Engineering
   Central State University, Wilberforce, OH 45384
   (1st Edition Textbook Reviewed Feb 2005)
   (Request Review Expire in 5 years, calling for a new edition re-review)



3. "Design of Experiments for Engineers and Scientists" is a well written and easily understandable text on the subject of practical experimental design considerations. Whether you are a practicing engineer in business or an instructor at an academic institution, I think that you will find this to be an excellent introductory textbook. It is simple enough for an engineer that does not have an extensive statistical or mathematical background to read through once, grasp the concepts and be able to apply experimental design techniques to improve his company's performance. The graphical presentations are very helpful in this regard. It is also detailed enough to use in a graduate course to introduce engineers to the subject of practical experimental design techniques. Having held a variety of industrial engineering positions from process engineer to member of the Board of Directors before returning to academia, I feel that I am well qualified to judge the value of this book. I have taught a graduate class in experimental design techniques for several years at a major university and will include this as a text for my future classes. Being a consultant in the areas of Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma, I feel this text will also be very useful for my industrial clients as well!



4. This book provides insight into various aspects of design of experiments. Design of experiment is a powerful tool, which is used for process planning, designing and analyzing the experiment, and to obtain effective and efficient conclusion. Author has exploited his industrial and academic experience to provide detailed analysis of design of experiment with examples and hence this book is at centre stage for Decision Makers (DM). On studying this book, DM (engineers and managers) can easily apply design of experiment to real world problems and explore the influence of each and every parameter on the process performance.
   This book is comprised of 9 sections, each presenting various aspects of design of experiments. First section addresses the introduction to DOE, which stresses on importance on experimentation in an organization. Second section discusses fundamentals of DOE with a framework to develop a measurement system and quality characteristics for industrial experiments. Section 3 illustrates the significance of interaction of process parameters, and provides graphical tools to handle them. Fourth section illustrates the concrete steps to plan, design, conduct and analyze the industrially designed experiments. Section 5 presents screening design, used for exploring, and discovers their influence on the process performance. Section 6 discusses the use of full factorial designs at 2 levels in industrial experiments and how to analyze and interpret the results of experiments using graphical tools generated by Mini tab software. Section 7 points out the importance to construct fractional factorial experiments. In section eight key points are depicted for making successful experiments. Last section provides eight real life industrial problems to illustrate the power of DOE.
   One of the key facets of this book is enclosure of number of case studies, which exploits the capability to build knowledge base on design of experiments. This book also bridges the gap between real life problem and research work using design of experiments.
   This book will be of great interest to students and researchers, who are most of the time aware of the existing theories but not conversant to select the best method or the value of process parameter which has significant effect on the performance metrics of the system. The book is well structured and contains ample case materials, reflective questions, and references to promote future research in this area. The book is easy to read, and likely to find its way on to the desk of practitioners, students and researchers.



5. This is a good introduction to DOE with plenty of case studies and minimal statistics. It is the first book that I've read on DOE. The second chapter was a little confusing, with concepts such as design resolution introduced with little explanation of their significance. These concepts became clearer as I delved into the case studies, and by the end of the book I had a good grasp of the subject. A few things still mystify me, such as where the reference line in a Pareto plot comes from. It's calculated automatically by software of course, but I wish I understood the underlying maths, which goes unexplained. Still, this book will get you off the ground fast - I read it in two days.

1 comments about Introductory Biomechanics: From Cells to Organisms (Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering) (Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering).

1. I bought this book because it had significant discounts here on Amazon and, from various previews, seemed to cover the material that my biomechanics course covered. My class uses a biomechanics book by YC Fung, but that book is far too dense and unclear; Fung often dives into topics without establishing clear reasons why.
   
   This book is well made. It covers many of the same topics that Fung covers in his book, but without the ambiguous mathematical explanations Fung uses. The math that is used here is clearly explained and justified. It goes into the level of depth that is appropriate for an undergraduate without much background in biology. Overall, it's a great book that hopefully becomes a primary textbook for biomechanics classes, and it makes a great, cheap (at least for now) supplement to any biomechanics course, especially if your course uses a YC Fung book.

1 comments about Wind Energy Explained.

1. This book helped me ace my mechanical engineering senior design project every step of the way. The material is easy to grasp for anyone with a basic background in math/science; and learning about how this stuff works is fascinating! The chapter on aerodynamics alone kept me writing computer codes for months. The author's writing style is modern and easy to follow.

5 comments about Wood: Identification & Use (Revised & Expanded).

1. This edition adds so much more information and pictures not included before. It's a great resource for both the novice and professional wood worker. This book, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "Encyclopedia of Wood," makes for an impressive wood working library.



2. A dang good wood ID book. Well written and illustrated. A must fot the wood library.



3. I am a woodcarver/wood sculptor and I use a good many exotic woods in my work (hobby, actually). I am regularly receiving small pieces and mill ends that others have simply forgotten the names of. This book helps quite a bit in identifying the majority of them but it is somewhat limited in scope. There cannot be a complete list of trees and their woods yet stay affordable, but this one covers the ones that most woodcarvers are likely to encounter. A few of the local species are left out; however, they are mostly local or regional and not of commercial value on a larger scale. The color illustrations seem quite accurate for those woods I have checked - possible two dozen. The basic facts, including the specific gravity, appear accurate, also, all of which are quite helpful. For the price, I couldn't let it go by. I find it handy and a good reference -- even interesting to just pick up and browse through when I have few idle moments. It has resolved more than one disagreement among my fellows, but then we can really come up with some truly rare woods at times.
   
   The safety and health considerations were very general in most cases and seemed to always exaggerate on the side of maximum safety. Many of the woods that they identified as having health threats are those I have used extensively without difficulty while using only minimal precautions. (I should point out that I am Asthmatic and, therefore, am extra careful, specially when making fine sawdust.) This is not a matter of inaccuracy, but more a matter of being too general to be very helpful - after all, they do not claim to be doctors or health experts - this is a wood book.
   
   Anyone having health or breathing problems should do more research specific to their condition. I know I certainly do; and, if you are here, you must have the internet available. It's out there -- just go get it.



4. Found this to be very informative on woods and their characteristics. A must add to any woodworkers library, it helps to understand what woods are available and how best to use them. Now I have to figure out how to get some of the different woods I read about. Liked it enough I actually bought my original one elsewhere and then bought this one for a fellow woodworker friend of mine for his use.



5. 
   In the personal property appraisal field this book is a very helpful tool in the identity of woods used to create antique furniture. Recommend it to anyone who needs to view broad cross sections to match grain. For folks who work with wood it also identifies the pluses and minuses of wood selections and related health issues.

2 comments about The Lean Enterprise Memory Jogger: Create Value and Eliminate Waste Throughout Your Company.

1. A great tip and synopsis pocket book covering the tools and techniques for lean enterprise



2. Some useful hints there are much better lean books out there. This book will fit in your back pocket which was surprising to me. All in all not reccommended.