To work metal, basically all one needs is a vice, file and hammer. But I wanted to do much more than that so I needed a lathe. Being on a budget, I struggled with how to afford such a machine. Finally, I came upon Lindsay Publications (815/935-5353) and the Dave Gingery set of how-to books on making serious metal working machines from scratch and scrap. At first I was skeptical, but the pictures in Lindsay's catalog of Dave's machines convinced me to take a leap of faith and order the foundry and lathe books.