Rating: 
Summary: An oldie but a goodie
Review: This book was originally recommended to me on the rec.crafts.metalworking site and so I went out and bought a copy. It arrived and I read it cover to cover over a couple of days. It gives a very good intro to the subject of metalworking - with an emphasis on race cars / hotrods. I am restoring old m/cycles so this was a little lost on me - although the methods are obviously similar. He uses and recommends a lot of equipment - which is way beyond the reach of the amateur. I also found that the tanks he builds are almost all square or rectangular with the notable exception of an aircraft wing-tank. Bike tanks are MUCH harder. I have struggled to build new tanks using this book as a guide and have decided that it is far easier to buy an old tank (ANY tank) and restore it rather than buidl from scratch. This is alo reflected in the price of new tanks (surprise, surprise).Overall - a good read / well worth the money (I paid OVER $US18 !!) and when you have finished reading it - don't be surprised if you can sell it on EBAY for more than you paid for it (seriously !) Steelaway@bigpond.com
Rating:
Summary: For both the beginner and the professional
Review: This book, in a way, is for both the beginner and the professional. The author includes a lot of helpful information for the beginner. He starts with simple and complete description of all kinds of tools that are used in fabricating metal. He starts with hand tools, moves to power hand tools, and then ends with large equipment. In the next chapter the author describes the types of metals needed to fabricate reliable auto parts. That was a good chapter. After wards, there is a chapter for each, gas welding and electric welding. The following two chapters are about basic metal forming and hammer forming. Both of those chapters are good and give a basic understanding of how metal is shaped. There are five more chapters about sheet metal add ons, roll bars, tanks, exhaust headers, and sheet metal interior. All of those chapters were a little hard for me to follow, but I think a professional would like those chapters. In conclusion, I find this book very helpful for the beginner; however there is a lack of information about simple detailed projects and practices.
Rating:
Summary: For both the beginner and the professional
Review: This book, in a way, is for both the beginner and the professional. The author includes a lot of helpful information for the beginner. He starts with simple and complete description of all kinds of tools that are used in fabricating metal. He starts with hand tools, moves to power hand tools, and then ends with large equipment. In the next chapter the author describes the types of metals needed to fabricate reliable auto parts. That was a good chapter. After wards, there is a chapter for each, gas welding and electric welding. The following two chapters are about basic metal forming and hammer forming. Both of those chapters are good and give a basic understanding of how metal is shaped. There are five more chapters about sheet metal add ons, roll bars, tanks, exhaust headers, and sheet metal interior. All of those chapters were a little hard for me to follow, but I think a professional would like those chapters. In conclusion, I find this book very helpful for the beginner; however there is a lack of information about simple detailed projects and practices.
Rating: 
Summary: customcar lover
Review: this is a very informative book that brought ideas about customizing automobiles from dreams to reality.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for general information.
Review: This is an excelent book for anyone who wants to get started or just looking for general info on metal fabrication. However I have to agree with some of the previous posts regarding it's lack of specific details. The book offers readers a good deal of information on the tools of the trade and the basics of metal fabrication. It is a great reference to point you in the right direction but you will have to go elsewhere for the more specific information.
Rating:
Summary: Fairly Decent
Review: While the Metal Fabricator's Handbook provided some insight into working with metal, it didn't provide as much information as I had expected. Ron does a good job of detailing the tools you will need to work with metal, but does not spend much time actually showing you what to do. Most of the projects were presented in a general way, he didn't touch much on the specifics of how to do complete the tasks. It was more like watching a 30 minute show on how to fabricate many parts associated with a race car. Surely you cannot expect to be able to take this information and build a race car. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the trade. Even if you manage to learn one thing from this book, it's one thing you didn't know prior to reading it.
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