Roger L. Timings (2005)

It is now 14 years since the first edition of the Mechanical Engineer’s Pocket Book was published in its present format. Although a second edition was published some 7 years ago to accommodate many updates in the British Standards incorporated in the text, no changes were made to the structure of the book.

During the 14 years since the first edition of the Mechanical Engineer’s Pocket Book was published, the British Engineering Industry has undergone many changes, with the emphasis moving from manufacture to design and development. At the same time manufacturing has been largely out-sourced to East Europe, Asia and the Far East in order to reduce operating costs in an increasingly competitive global market.

Therefore, before embarking on this third edition, the Publishers and the Author have undertaken an extensive market research exercise. The main outcomes from this research have indicated that:

• The demand has changed from an engineering manufacturing driven pocket book to an engineering design driven pocket book.

• More information was requested on such topic areas as roller chain drives, pneumatic systems and hydraulic systems in the section on power transmission.

• More information was requested on selected topic areas concerning engineering statics, dynamics and mathematics.

• Topic areas that have fallen out of favour are those related to cutting tools. Cutting tool data is considered less important now that the emphasis has move from manufacture to design. Further, cutting tool data is now widely available on the web sites of cutting tool manufacturers. A selection of useful web sites are included in Appendix 4.