David J. Gingery (; December 19, 1932 – May 3, 2004) was an American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, writer, and

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

, best known for his series of books on how to build

machine tool A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, Boring (manufacturing), boring, grinding (abrasive cutting), grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some s ...

s. Gingery is most famous for his ''Build Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap'' series, which details how to build a reasonably complete

machine shop A machine shop or engineering workshop is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tool (machining), cutting tools to make parts, usua ...

at low cost, often from scrap metal and other items. The hobbyist starts by constructing a small

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

capable of melting

silicon Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have prop ...

s from recycled automotive parts. Then green

sand casting Sand casting, also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process characterized by using sand—known as ''casting sand''—as the mold material. The term "sand casting" can also refer to an object produced via the sand casting proces ...

s are used to make a

metal lathe In machining, a metal lathe or metalworking lathe is a large class of lathes designed for precisely machining relatively hard materials. They were originally designed to machine metals; however, with the advent of plastics and other materials, an ...

. The lathe is the first machine built since it can be used to help build itself. The lathe and foundry are then used to make more complicated machine tools. The books in the series are, in the suggested sequence of construction: * ''The Charcoal Foundry'' * ''The Metal Lathe'' * ''The Metal Shaper'' * ''The Milling Machine'' * ''The Drill Press'' * ''The Dividing Head & Deluxe Accessories'' * ''Designing & Building The Sheet Metal Brake'' There is another book by Gingery, not usually counted as part of the series, entitled ''Building a Gas Fired Crucible Furnace'' (1988)''.'' The dominant themes of the series are recycling, using inexpensive and free materials, and

bootstrapping In general, bootstrapping usually refers to a self-starting process that is supposed to continue or grow without external input. Many analytical techniques are often called bootstrap methods in reference to their self-starting or self-supporting ...

the shop's capabilities. Gingery is noted for using basic methods, seldom used today, in order to make it possible for a skilled hobbyist to build the machines in the book series, usually without the aid of power tools or other expensive instruments. In addition to the ''Build Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap'' series, Dave Gingery and his son Vincent have published a large number of booklets on shop practices, engine construction and mechanical miscellanea.

Personal life

Gingery was a gifted amateur musician (primarily tenor banjo) and vocalist performing the music of the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant 20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is th ...

and classic country. He was also a skilled luthier who helped his many friends fix and modify their instruments, participated in many musical jam sessions in southwest Missouri and also practiced yodeling alone in his farm fields. A cheerful man with a sunny dispostion, he is greatly missed by his many friends. He was married and had children.

References

External links

Gingery's websiteA mailing list dedicated to Gingery machinesA video series illustrating the construction of a Gingery lathe
American technology writers 1932 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American inventors {{US-engineer-stub