So near and yet so far. I go to to all sorts of second hand book shops, car boot sales, flea markets... hoping to find a somewhat modern (late 60s onwards) version of
https://new.industrialpress.com/machineryhandbook or something very similar but thus far have not found it. Some might say I should
get a haircut and a get real job and just buy it but I am still holding out. Today I got tantalisingly close
Not sure of the year of this one -- it makes reference to a 1949 standard in part of it and mentions the 1914-1918 war in another (books prior to world war 2 tend to call it the war) so there is that as a baseline. For a £1 though I am not complaining, though it did seem to come out of somewhere someone smoked heavily so I am not getting the nice leather/old paper smell and instead musty book mixed with smoke.
I also got the book you see propping it up but that is less interesting, more a vocational certificate for people taking such a course. That said it was nicely practically minded rather than the heavy theory I usually see/get.
Also some cold chisels, purely because one said USSR on it. I am kind of curious to test its metal (one does not test the mettle of such things without serious safety consideration -- it might turn out of be crap metal but when it shatters the pieces are still harder than your skin and eyeballs) but I lack any decent analysis gear at this point in time. It is well known that older properly made files make fantastic knife metal but I am not sure what goes for vintage cold chisels from the USSR.
It was either that or get a spanner that said king dick, sadly it is probably easier to get a smile from a chef when you say spotted dick so eh.
I did also get a nice motorbike jacket for next to nothing, some nice
speaker connector plates and a fishing rod holder that works wonderfully for my building levels and possibly some of the more interesting camera gear but I am not up for photographing that.
There are seriously few games out there these days, at least if I don't want sports games (I do not want sports games). I was doing OK up until last year but lately it is not good.