Best products from r/AskEngineers

I haven't actually used mine for anything yet because I kind of got burned out doing technical hobbies after a technical workweek, but I decided I'd pick up one of these anyway, which hits a lot of the electronics test stuff you mentioned:

https://store.digilentinc.com/analog-discovery-2-100msps-usb-oscilloscope-logic-analyzer-and-variable-power-supply/

Ton of features for the price.

I use a 8-channel Saleae logic analyzer at work which is awesome, has really nice-looking software, and is priced reasonably for a home lab, but the AD2 does a lot more for not much more money. A decent multimeter is always useful. I used a $50 Radio Shack unit for a long time, but when it died, I picked up a really nice used Fluke 179 on eBay. Get some extra fuses for the fused current ports.

I definitely would buy a home 3D printer if I were into technical hobbies right now. I spent so much time using hand tools to lash together ugly electromechanical stuff for ham radio antennas and tuning networks before 3D printers were affordable. Agree that digital calipers are a great addition. I've found really cheap ones to be adequate at home.

For general electronics stock, even if the work's focused on microcontroller/IoT/digital, I like stocking up on small general-purpose capacitor and resistor assortments from places like Jameco, and then I order extra on the 220, 330, 1k, and 10k ohm resistors. For caps I'll get extra 0.1 and 1uF ceramic capacitors and 10uF or so tantalum electrolytics, all at 25V or higher, all to do power bypassing.

I've always found it useful to stock up on 3.3V and 5V voltage regulators at least. I usually keep some "adjustable" ones around as well. The classic LM78xx regulators are still pretty useful for general messing around. You can order what you really need later if you want something more compact or more efficient. But it's always nice to not have to wait for a DigiKey order just because you want to prototype a thing with a 3.3V microcontroller that plugs into your car's cigarette lighter auxiliary power jack.

I'm very into color coding my wiring, but find regular hookup wire to be too bulky for most board-to-board work in projects I'm working on. These days I buy long rolls of rainbow ribbon cable and tear it apart as necessary. It's nice to have a couple rolls of heavier black and red hookup wire for higher-current power leads.

I have a deep hatred of intermittent wire failures from flexing, and also get sick of perma-tangled spiderwebs that result from soldering both ends of things as I add things to a design. So I've started to favor crimped header connectors for wire-to-board connections to the point where I picked some up for the home lab. I like these Harwin M20s https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/m20-series/32875 ... easy to pull the contacts and re-configure or even re-use by lifting the plastic tabs with a jeweler's screwdriver. I'll still often solder at least one end of the cable directly to a board... usually solder to a sensor board and connectorize the microcontroller end or something like that.

I've had good luck crimping them with this cheap crimping tool: https://www.inventables.com/technologies/crimping-tool

Lots of small cable ties.

If you do a lot of soldering, a good third-(& fourth & fifth) hand system is great. I like the cutting-fluid-conduit style ones like this

https://www.amazon.com/Hobby-Creek-Helping-Hands-Soldering/dp/B010C504NK

I don't really have one at home right now. I built the ones I've got at work from parts from McMaster Carr.

I took this exam in California (San Mateo) and I am an Ohio Resident so that meant air travel and space considerations.  That's important because the number of references, for me, was limited as I was not willing to chance them travelling in a checked bag.

First, a little background:  I started as an industrial electrician in 2006.  I pursued my engineering degree part time starting in 2008.  I earned my AS in 2012 and BS in 2015.  I began working in the engineering space in 2011 at a consulting firm, then moved on to a large OEM then finally found myself at a power engineering and services company.

This exam is not easy but it doesn't have to be brutal if you can properly prepare yourself.  Take it seriously and you'll be fine.

My study schedule was more haphazard than most.  I have 2 kids (8yo and 3yo) and an otherwise active lifestyle so finding the time meant just grabbing what free hours were available, when they were available.  Basically, I studied for 1-2 hours a night (no less than every other night) for the 4 months leading up to the exam.  1 month out, I set aside 4 hours on a Saturday and 4 hours on a Sunday and did the NCEES practice test in two parts to assess my status.  From there I focused my efforts on problem areas.  All in, I believe I had some 200-250 hours if I include some pre-studying before the 4 month mark.

My primary resource was Engineering Pro Guides.  I used the Technical Study Guide as the guiding document and supplemented with other resources.  I used all of the following throughout studying but they are listed in order of importance relative to exam day:

1. ENG Pro Guide Technical Study Guide -- https://www.engproguides.com/power-pe-exam-study-guide-tools.html
   
   

• Get all of his practice tests.  They are very, very good.
  
  

1. The Electrical Engineer's Guide to Passing the Power PE Exam by Graffeo -- http://www.powerpeexamguide.com/
   
2. National Electric Code, non-handbook (I was an electrician before so I didn't need the extra weight of the handbook) -- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/national-electrical-code-2017-edition-nfpa/1123827199#/
   
   

• I'd get the tabs for this no matter your level of familiarity
  
  

1. Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems by Wildi -- https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Machines-Drives-Power-Systems/dp/0131776916
   
2. Power System Analysis by Grainger -- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/power-system-analysis-john-j-grainger/1100151989
   
   

• I didn't use this one much on the exam but there are some odd ball items in here that can be helpful
  
  

1. National Electric Safety Code -- https://catalog.nfpa.org/National-Electrical-Safety-Code-2017-Edition-P17436.aspx
   
   

• Try to borrow this one if you can as its expensive but there are not likely to be a lot of questions needing it.  Easy points if you have the book though.
  
  

1. Various printouts bound in 3-ring binders for topics I struggled with but weren't well covered in the above.  For example, battery calculations, certain power electronics, certain equipment standards, etc.
   
   Like I mentioned above, I was an electrician before I got into engineering so my base code knowledge was above average.  That said, ENG Pro Guides has an excellent practice test.  Find your way through that a couple of times and you should be fine.  The key is to learn how to use the index and recognize key words, not memorizing the whole book, which is impossible.
   
   Hope this helps.  Feel free to ask anything else and I'll do my best to answer.
   
   Thanks and good luck!

When I was applying for jobs after graduate school I went to a counselor and we spent an entire hour on negotiation techniques. It cost $60 and I used what I learned to increase my starting salary from $73K to $88K, with a grade increase to boot. That was over a decade ago, so I'm at over a $150K return (not including the percentage increases during the raises) on a $60 investment. When I left that company to come to my current place of employment, I wasn't able to get them to move on salary because it was pseudo government (it was already a big jump from the previous job so I was pleased), but I was able to get a signing bonus. As an aside, one of the contributing factors to women being paid less than men is that they generally are less likely to negotiate salary.

It sounds like you should take the new position, not just for the pay but also the engagement and the long term growth potential.

It is good that you are aware that you are looking for a complete compensation package which may include vacation (more accrual or more to start), signing bonus, relocation expenses, retirement contributions, etc, in addition to the salary. Some of these may only be available to executives though. Ideally you would want treat each one of these separately; negotiate base salary, then vacation, then 401k, etc.

You're in the best possible position to negotiate because they want to hire you. The key is to be respectful but straight forward. The company almost always has room to adjust, especially if it is a big place and they have someone that they want to hire. They don't want to go to the expense of screening and interviewing more candidates, checking references, making offers, losing working getting done, etc for another few thousand a year.

I put the material from my time with the counselor here so you might want to check it out.

Edit: A couple other points.

1. These negotiations should always be done in person if you can swing it
   
   
2. The first person to mention a salary number is at a disadvantage. If they press, you can say things like "I'm sure your company has a standard salary range for this position. What is it?" or "Given the new responsibilities of this position, I don't believe that my previous salary is terribly relevant to the discussion"
   
   
3. Talk in ranges. When I was offered $73K, I responded with "I was expecting something in the low $90s". That was when he said that that type of salary would be for a level 4 and this is a level 3 position that the offered, so I countered with "then maybe I need to be a level 4"
   
   Good luck!

Could anyone compare and contrast a dust collector vs shop vacuum.

Dust collectors are designed to move a high volume of air but don't have a lot of static lift. It's designed to move a lot of dust but don't do well if you 'clog' them. Where as with a shop vac have lower flow rates but have better static lift. (~90"H2O/6.6"Hg/7.5 kPa abs). With 406"H2O/29.92"Hg/0 kPa being the theoretical maximum.

Cincinnati Fan has a nice document that shows the different wheel types and then it loses me in tables I try to block out of my memory. I'm pretty sure both types of vacuums (well all vacuums cleaner) use a variation of the centrifugal blower.

A few questions:

1. What is the theoretical and real world max static lift that you can achieve with a centrifugal blower vs a positive displacement pump (which is what most vacuum pumps use).
   
   
2. What are the different parameters that determine what a centrifugal blowers specs are? Would there be a way to do something similar to a VNT turbo[gif] [html5] to change those specs?
   
   
3. Is there any type of positive displacement pump that has a similar performance/size to a centrifugal blower? You can hold a 1000 cfm centrifugal fan in your arms.
   
   
4. Some fans are 'ok' with being operated in a vacuum, some don't. For example if I 'stall' my fan (doing static vacuum tests). Is this more of a function of the motor? Lower air flow = no load = motor speeds up = it gets hot since it's an unregulated motor. Or do centrifugal pumps not like to be run in a vacuum? (Is there such thing as cavitation with air?). But if you designed the motor that could operate at the higher speeds with either better cooling or speed control.
   
   
5. How does whether it's blower or a sucker affect the design. For example a shop vac and dust vac vs a HVAC fan. Where one has to draw through the system vs the other what blows through it? HVAC blowers seem to have lots of small flat blades (Squirrel cage) vs a dust fan.
   
   5a) Does it affect the ducting? For example a 1000 cfm centrifugal fan needs a large intake or needs to operate as close atmospheric as possible. Where as as a blower it needs a bit of resistance from the system. Or does a centrifugal fan just always operate best in an 'open' atmosphere?
   
   ELIFE (Explain it like I'm a freshmen engineer).
   
   I've post it in both here and engineering an got nowhere.

If cost is a concern for your prototype, there's OSH Park. They pool and panel orders and make the boards at a place in Illinois I believe. I haven't used them yet, but will be placing an order in a couple days. For layout help, you might ask on the EE stack exchange site or the Sparkfun forum. Before laying out your board, be sure to set the design rules in your software to those from whichever fab you select. Here's a comparison of boards ordered from OSH Park and two other inexpensive options.

The Art of Electronics has a section on board layout, and there are a bunch of application note PDFs out there from semi companies:

• Circuit Board Layout Techniques (from Op Amps for Everyone)
  
• PCB Design Guidelines
  For Reduced EMI
  
• Using Decoupling Capacitors
  
  These guides are specific to certain microcontrollers, but still have good info:
  
  
• System Design Guidelines for Stellaris Microcontrollers
  
• Getting started with STM32F10xxx hardware development
  
  As someone who recently transitioned a prototype from Arduino/breadboard to a custom board, I'd also suggest you take a look at ARM if you aren't tied to Atmel. The performance for STM32 and Stellaris chips is great considering the cost, and they are almost price competitive with PIC and Atmel chips. TI has a Stellaris launchpad board now, and ST has several cheap eval boards. There is a gcc toolchain for ARM, and the MikroE ARM compiler is a reasonably-priced commercial option (demo up to 8k program space).
  
  What software are you using for layout?

I saw it followed pretty religiously in aerospace and I'd guess that automotive does too, as I believe SAE was heavily involved with creating them (not positive though).

My current job (industrial components) uses them as a guide and reasonable starting point but is not bound to them.

Other companies I interned at just drilled to whatever size was available and hoped it worked.

It really depends on how critical the components are, how regulated the industry is, and how likely you are to get sued. If a component fails, "I followed best industry standard and practices" holds up a lot better in court than "I guessed and it seemed to work". There are a ton of other tolerance standards and about 1500 pages of Machinery's Handbook is largely devoted to them. It's worth browsing through some time, it's really mind blowing how standardized everything is. They seem simple but there are at least 100 pages devoted purely to dimensions on bolts.

Further reading/research: (Not all of which I've gotten to read yet. Some of which may be quite tangentially relevant to the discussion at hand along with the books and sites I mentioned above. Consider this more a list of books pertaining to the history of technology, machining, metrology, some general science and good engineering texts.)

Dan Gelbart's Youtube Channel

Engineerguy's Youtube Channel

Nick Mueller's Youtube Channel

mrpete222/tubalcain's youtube channel

Tom Lipton (oxtools) Youtube Channel

Suburban Tool's Youtube Channel

NYCNC's Youtube Channel

Computer History Museum's Youtube Channel

History of Machine Tools, 1700-1910 by Steeds

Studies in the History of Machine Tools by Woodbury

A History of Machine Tools by Bradley

Tools for the Job: A History of Machine Tools to 1950 by The Science Museum

A History of Engineering Metrology by Hume

Tools and Machines by Barnard

The Testing of Machine Tools by Burley

Modern machine shop tools, their construction, operation and manipulation, including both hand and machine tools: a book of practical instruction by Humphrey & Dervoort

Machine-Shop Tools and Methods by Leonard

A Measure of All Things: The Story of Man and Measurement by Whitelaw

Handbook of Optical Metrology: Principles and Applications by Yoshizawa

Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon by Gray

Machine Shop Training Course Vol 1 & 2 by Jones

A Century of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, 1882-1982

Numerical Control: Making a New Technology by Reintjes

History of Strength of Materials by Timoshenko

Rust: The Longest War by Waldman

The Companion Reference Book on Dial and Test Indicators: Based on our popular website www.longislandindicator.com by Meyer

Optical Shop Testing by Malacara

Lost Moon: The Preilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Lovell and Kruger

Kelly: More Than My Share of It All by Johnson & Smith

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Rich & Janos

Unwritten Laws of Engineering by King

Advanced Machine Work by Smith

Accurate Tool Work by Goodrich

Optical Tooling, for Precise Manufacture and Alignment by Kissam

The Martian: A Novel by Weir

Roark's Formulas for Stress and Strain by Young Budynas & Sadegh

Materials Selection in Mechanical Design by Ashby

Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer by Shute

Cosmos by Sagan

Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook by Smith Carol Smith wrote a number of other great books such as Engineer to Win.

Tool & Cutter Sharpening by Hall

Handbook of Machine Tool Analysis by Marinescu, Ispas & Boboc

The Intel Trinity by Malone

Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals by Thompson

A Handbook on Tool Room Grinding

Tolerance Design: A Handbook for Developing Optimal Specifications by Creveling

Inspection and Gaging by Kennedy

Precision Engineering by Evans

Procedures in Experimental Physics by Strong

Dick's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes or How They Did it in the 1870's by Dick

Flextures: Elements of Elastic Mechanisms by Smith

Precision Engineering by Venkatesh & Izman

Metal Cutting Theory and Practice by Stephenson & Agapiou

American Lathe Builders, 1810-1910 by Cope As mentioned in the above post, Kennth Cope did a series of books on early machine tool builders. This is one of them.

Shop Theory by Henry Ford Trade Shop

Learning the lost Art of Hand Scraping: From Eight Classic Machine Shop Textbooks A small collection of articles combined in one small book. Lindsay Publications was a smallish company that would collect, reprint or combine public domain source material related to machining and sell them at reasonable prices. They retired a few years ago and sold what rights and materials they had to another company.

How Round Is Your Circle?: Where Engineering and Mathematics Meet by Bryant & Sangwin

Machining & CNC Technology by Fitzpatrick

CNC Programming Handbook by Smid

Machine Shop Practice Vol 1 & 2 by Moltrecht

The Elements of Computing Systems: Building a Modern Computer from First Principles A fantastic book with tons of free online material, labs, and courses built around it. This book could take a 6th grader interested in learning, and teach them the fundamentals from scratch to design a basic computer processor and programming a simple OS etc.

Bosch Automotive Handbook by Bosch

Trajectory Planning for Automatic Machines and Robots by Biagiotti & Melchiorri

The Finite Element Method: Its Basis and Fundamentals by Zhu, Zienkiewicz and Taylor

Practical Treatise on Milling and Milling Machines by Brown & Sharpe

Grinding Technology by Krar & Oswold

Principles of Precision Engineering by Nakazawa & Takeguchi

Foundations of Ultra-Precision Mechanism Design by Smith

I.C.S. Reference Library, Volume 50: Working Chilled Iron, Planer Work, Shaper and Slotter Work, Drilling and Boring, Milling-Machine Work, Gear Calculations, Gear Cutting

I. C. S. Reference Library, Volume 51: Grinding, Bench, Vise, and Floor Work, Erecting, Shop Hints, Toolmaking, Gauges and Gauge Making, Dies and Die Making, Jigs and Jig Making
and many more ICS books on various engineering, technical and non-technical topics.

American Machinists' Handbook and Dictionary of Shop Terms: A Reference Book of Machine-Shop and Drawing-Room Data, Methods and Definitions, Seventh Edition by Colvin & Stanley

Modern Metal Cutting: A Practical Handbook by Sandvik

Mechanical Behavior of Materials by Dowling

Engineering Design by Dieter and Schmidt

[Creative Design of Products and Systems by Saeed]()

English and American Tool Builders by Roe

Machine Design by Norton

Control Systems by Nise

That doesn't include some random books I've found when traveling and visiting used book stores. :)

In no particular order but all of the following are great.

• Skunk Works by Ben Rich - I reviewed it here
  
• Ignition! - It's an informal history of liquid rocket propellant and I did a more in depth review of it here
  
• The Design of Everyday Things - A book about how objects are designed. It changed how I look at the world and approach design. It took me few tries to get into it the first time.
  
• Introduction to Astrodynamics by Battin - A great textbook on the basics of astrodynamics that is both easy enough for undergrads to start, and rigorous enough to keep you interested as your math skills improve in grad school and later.

Well the best answer is definitely what Tigrinus posted. To add my two cents here are a couple of books I've read that are super interesting, without being textbooks:

The essential engineer

Why things break

Machinery's handbook

Machinery's handbook is pretty much the bible for Mechanical Engineers. It covers everything from materials sciences to types of measurements to machining and component sizing.

Skunkworks is great. Super good insight into the growth of a career and how an engineer thinks.


https://www.amazon.com/Unwritten-Laws-Engineering-Revised-Updated/dp/0791801624/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=3VPKBNEXYOHHK&keywords=unwritten+rules+of+engineering&qid=1555021569&s=gateway&sprefix=unwritten+r&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Here's this book. I hear it's good. Haven't read it myself

I really enjoyed reading the following 4 books. Feynman is my favorite by far though.


[Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman](http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures[](http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/1439167346/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343022087&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+win+friends+and+influence+people-Curious-Character/dp/0393316041/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343021477&sr=8-2&keywords=feynman)

Math and the Mona Lisa

The Emperor's New Mind

How To Win Friends and Influence People

I highly recommend Ingenious Mechanisms for Designers & Inventors by Franklin Jones. It's about $120, but it is a four-volume set of hardcover books. I have it and I love it.

While you're on that page check out the "frequently bought together" links, there are some interesting titles there. I haven't actually read any of them, but they look interesting.

It is really about knowing how to do research and speak the language. For the language you can learn from basic MSE books like https://www.amazon.com/Materials-Science-Engineering-Introduction-8th/dp/0470419970 . One you learn the basics and lingo you can apply that to specific material groups.


ASM has some really good books on materials like stainless steels and there are tons of online resources https://www.nickelinstitute.org/media/1667/designguidelinesfortheselectionanduseofstainlesssteels_9014_.pdf


Even common materials like aluminum have so many different grades that you need a good understanding of when you use 3000 grade vs 6000 grade.


More specialized materials like ceramic matrix composites for example have their own dedicated literature and resources. Once you get really off the beaten path academic papers and journals are the only resource.

I'm sure we'd all be willing to help, but you need to ask better questions. I work in the telecommunications industry for a company that develops carrier networking products, and yet I've little idea what you're really wanting. So for now, I'll answer the question that you have asked, though I doubt you'll like the answer.

>So what I would like is some books that explain what parameters affect the energy consumption at the telecommunications infrastructure.

The parameters that effect energy consumption are resistance, capacitance, and inductance. As far as books on the subject? I don't know. Maybe The Art of Electronics?

The aircraft itself is pretty amazing, although nowhere near close to being as good at the individual combat tasks as separate dedicated-role planes would be. By that I mean it won't come close to the A-10 for ground attack missions, won't hold a candle to the F-14 or F-15 for air superiority, etc. But that's a function of the design process itself, and that is what I have a real problem with.

If anyone is interested in finding out why the process is so broken, read Skunk Works by Ben Rich. He explains not only how much better things used to be, but exactly why they ended up the way they are now. Great book.

You're on the right track. If you use an epoxy resin system, then you can use styrofoam for the core. Follow some standard practices for wet layups and vacuum bag the whole thing.

After de-bagging it and trimming the ends and the trailing edge of the airfoil, a bottle of acetone poured through the foam will dissolve it without harm to the fiber shell.

So that answers your question.

My turn: Why would you want to do this? For a wing that small, the weight savings is minor. A sandwich structure gets you more stiffness and impact resistance. If you run the numbers, it might even be better to leave the foam core and use less layers of fiber. Also, I don't know what current practice is, but given the speeds of race cars and the possibility of rocks flying up and damaging the wing, causing unpredictable airflow, I'd wrap it in a single layer of Kevlar satin weave cloth. Again, minimal weight but a huge gain in durability.

One other tweak: You'll find it difficult to get the unidirectional fibers that flow the length of the airfoil to stay straight during the layup process. This adds deviation from the designed performance. An easy way to fix this it to cut the unidirectional fibers a lot longer that the airfoil and stretch/hold them straight with weights. When the outer layers are complete, they will hold the unis in place while you carefully remove the weights from both ends and trim the unis to length before bagging the layup.

Just some thoughts from a guy that used to build with this stuff every day.

Oh, and styrofoam can be hot wired into the airfoil shape.

Get over to the website of aircraft spruce and specialty: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/ They will sell you small quantities of aerospace grade materials.

Buy this book: https://www.amazon.com/Composite-Basics-Andrew-C-Marshall/dp/0966454049

Buy this book: https://www.amazon.com/Moldless-Composite-Sandwich-Aircraft-Construction/dp/B000BUJP5A

These guys built a lot of wings over their careers and never had defense contract money with which to do it. They've built a lot of homebuilt airplanes. I've met them both, used their methods, and am certain you'll be able to experiment with the airfoil design without having to live out of your car to pay for it.

Do make some prototypes out of glass fibers first instead of graphite. No sense wasting good graphite while learning how to manually control the layup and bagging process.

Have fun!

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Autobiography of a member of the Manhattan Project, Nobel Prize winner, Professor at Caltech, bongo drum player, LSD user, painter. Just a bunch of fun eclectic stories.

Oh man, nobody's mentioned the rOtring 600 yet?! It's the love of my life. I had a Uni Kuru Toga 0.5mm for a little over a year beforehand and it was awesome, too. My only complaint about it was the compliance in the tip made it annoying to precisely predict how tiny lines would end up (I write very small). The 0.5mm rOtring doesn't spin the lead or anything fancy like the Kuru Toga, but it is so heavy, so well balanced, and the tolerances are just awesome. I've tried the rOtring 800 with the retractable tip, but the tolerance stackup of the moving parts just made it feel of lower quality than the 600.

This is probably the best Materials Engineering book around. It starts out for the layperson (rehashing basic chemistry) and builds upon itself to some very advanced material by the end. It also includes a huge number of pictures and diagrams to help visualize things that would otherwise be difficult to understand.


When I took the class that polyparadigm mentions this is the textbook we used.

Edit - look like Callister got mentioned twice now, I guess that means you gotta get it now!

I bought this book and did all of the practice problems. You get a pdf manual to use during the test. You can download it from the NCEES website. It’s searchable and definitely helps to practice using it. I took mine in 2015 for civil so there may have been some changes since then. The university I went to offered review sessions that were open to non students. They weren’t free but were cheaper than most other options, maybe there’s a school near you that may offer them. Good luck.

0.005" is a standard engineering tolerance, it is by no means "incredibly precise", you can do that with a WWII bridgeport.

An excellent resource for mechanisms of all sorts: http://www.amazon.com/Ingenious-Mechanisms-Designers-Inventors/dp/0831110848

Perhaps a local library would have one you could take a look at?

Failing that, there a lot of considerations going into a cam design. The acceleration of the follower is important. Having a ramp like you have drawn will make the follower want to skip off the cam at high speeds. You want to have smooth acceleration of the follower by having gradual ups and downs.

It would be easier to help with more information. How many followers are there? How fast does it need to go? How long does it need to last? What forces are involved?

As it stands the design you have posted would work with a roller follower and at slow speeds.

If you're still in school, I would look at their library for review manuals first. I was able to find this: Lindeburg's Review Manual. In my opinion, this manual more than prepared me for the test because it is actually a lot harder than the FE.

Get the official practice test from NCEES and the official equation book. Use your FE calculator and the equation book every time you study.

It took me about 1 week to successfully study for the ChE version, and I thought it was rather easy. It helped that I was still a senior and taking a statics class, though. Don't stress. If you come from a good program (I'm from Pitt), you'll already have 80% of the knowledge somewhere in your brain.

hmmm well there are a lot of books that could be recommended depending on how you want your guitar tuner to work and what sort of methods you will be using to model your system as well as control it, do you want books on signal processing as well ? do you want discrete control? state space ? or just a book that will cover most bases? Either way I have put down a couple of basic texts that could help.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Control-Systems-Richard-Dorf/dp/0136024580

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Control-Engineering-International-Version/dp/0137133375/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382300545&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=control+ogatta

It's just a little thing, but a nice, bound, notepad with bookmark is essential for me. I like the quad-ruled ones:

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-NH130210120V-S-Classic-Notebook-Squared/dp/B01DN8TEA2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1541454040&sr=8-6&keywords=quad+ruled+notebook&dpID=51WoQSZKalL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Could consider a nice mechanical pencil to go with it, too: https://www.amazon.com/rOtring-Barrel-Mechanical-Pencil-1904443/dp/B00AZWYUA4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541454178&sr=8-3&keywords=rotring+pencil&dpID=31NpYvK41ML&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

If it was a piece of machinery I'd have gone for a foam pad like this. Ideally that's what you'd stick between the source of the vibration and the ground. But it should work for your bed.


You can get puck shaped rubber feet too.


Depending on the vibration you'll want a different hardness. As this is just transmitted vibrations, these may be a little stiff, but might be worth a go.


I can't really vouch for either of these items in particular. And they do seem to report a bit hit and miss with the reviews. I suppose the hard part will be making sure that your bed stays on top of them and doesn't crush the material they've made from.


Also, make sure you don't have the bed against the wall, because the vibrations will be transmitted up that too.


If you want a low tech solution, cut tennis balls in half and stuff them with a firm foam.

"If engineering were easy, they would have sent a boy with a note."

Seriously there aren't any shortcuts. Either you learn the fundamentals or you don't. But if you want a really good general reference book, get The Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual


Other useful references:

• The Machinery's Handbook
  
  
• Glover's Pocket Reference
  
  
• Mark's Standard Handbook
  
  In actual practice, unless we are launching things into space or making them fly through the air, a lot of engineering is just picking thinks that we know will work by experience (if a 1" square tube will work let's use a 2") or by consulting with vendors.

Modern Control Systems is one of the best presented textbooks I've read on any subject, I highly recommend it.

Edition 10 and 11 are easy to come by from online downloads, might have seen 12th Ed but no solution manual is available ATM. They are all virtually the same anyway.


Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Control-Systems-12th-Edition/dp/0136024580

Ebook:
http://sharif.ir/~namvar/index_files/Modern%20Control%20Systems%20(11th).pdf

Solutions:
http://www.cpdee.ufmg.br/~palhares/solution_CSL_Dorf_Bishop.pdf

This what I’m hoping for Christmas if you want to get me it that’ll be great!
Marks standard handbook for mechanical engineers

Anything by Henry Petroski

Skunk Works by Ben Rich Military aircraft aren't really developed this way anymore, but the stories are amazing.

Blind Man's Bluff

Two books comes to mind, first we have Skunk works by Ben Rich wich chronicles his years at Lockheed, Developing among others the U2 spyplane and the SR-71, giving you lots of practical glimpses into acctual engineering problems, like say dealing with poor supplier quality etc,

And then we have my all time fauvorite, Surely you're joking Mr Feynman, by Ralph Leighton and Richard Feynman. This isnt as much engineering as science and humour in one, but its still a good read!

I'm not an engineer(yet), but I thoroughly enjoyed Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed

Thanks for the reply! I've already done this, as per my post. The ones I bought from Amazon aren't stopping the vibrations, though. Do you have any recommendations from ones that will definitely stop the vibrations?

These are the ones that I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GUYZWK/

I've included Amazon links as I could find them. The three reference guides I have are:

• Mark's Handbook for Mechanical Engineers
  
• Machinery's Handbook
  
• Roark's Formulas
  
  I also think reference books for the FE and PE exams would be helpful.

There are a variety of introductory materials science books. The one by Callister is probably the most widely used, at least in the U.S., but personally I prefer Ashby and Jones.

The University of Cambridge also has a nice set of tutorials online, here.

I agree with the other posters in that you should use a hose clamp or a tube clamp.

I also agree that you should spend a few hours perusing McMaster and reading the info; same with Misumi. That's how I learned about lots of different hardware.

As far as books: Machinery's Handbook is the gold standard for mechanical design. It contains tons of information you use day-to-day in design and gives your references if you need to research further. I suggest you procure a copy and keep it forever.

The EIT/FE is not a hard test. But, it is a test of fundamentals, most of which you haven't used / forgotten in the past eight years. As I tell my students: take the test before you graduate, because your brain is like a sieve, and once you stop doing homework, that knowledge slowly seeps out.

As you're coming to it several years out my advice is to start by buying yourself one of those EIT prep books and working problems. The Lindeburg book seems popular. Figure out what you know and what you've forgotten.

Then check your local colleges that have CE programs to see if they offer FE prep courses. Ours does, it's run by Chi Epsilon (the CE honor society), starts about 8 weeks before the test and they get professors to come in on the weekends to review. Ours charges a very nominal fee (like $10 per session) and student feedback is quite positive. So if you have a CE program near, contact the department office and see if they have something similar.

Buy the FE reference manual that NCEES sells. As others have said, the bulk of the material you need to know will be in there. Know where things are found ahead of time.

Figure out which afternoon test you're taking -- CE or Other disciplines (formerly called general). As you're 8 years out, CE is probably the answer for you.

The real key is to know that you're not going to know everything and the test ultimately is designed to test how well you take tests. Know what you know very well, re-learn the familiar stuff so you are passable, and don't spend a whole lot of time on stuff you've completely forgotten or hated. Make sure you know your math, physics and statics and you're on your way.

I used a prep book from Amazon and instead of the 90 day study schedule I think I crammed it into just under 30. I did the general test for both parts, though I went through and looked at the questions in the second half and the material I knew/didn't know was about the same for general and mechanical.

I had to take it in school before graduating, and I passed, but haven't really needed it now that I'm working. Good thing for the resume though as some places look for it.

You are looking at an area called Control System Engineering. If you are familiar with the Laplace transform I strongly recommend reading through this book.

http://www.amazon.ca/Modern-Control-Systems-12th-Edition/dp/0136024580

Even if you do not understand the Laplace transform this book covers the material initially using traditional Differential Equations. You can get a copy online through resourceful means.

Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers

So good. Fascinating. Put it this way: if you don't end-up loving (loving!) this book, then Mech certainly isn't for you. So worst case scenario, this is a cheap way to find that out.

+1 for Rotring 600 or 800

Also a 4 hole punch would be nice if he wants to make up his own custom notebooks with millimetric graph paper and such.

This is what I used when I took the exam last year. I loaned that same book to a couple of friends who took the exam this year, and they both passed. To be honest, it's overkill, as not everything in there will be on the current exams, but that coupled with the books available from NCEES will let you pick and choose the sections you need to study.

The Art of Electronics is the one essential electronics textbook. The microprocessor stuff is sadly dated, but OTOH, nobody has written a better book for understanding transistors and op-amps. If $100 is too steep, shop around for a paperback international student edition.

Did you mean 'Machinist's handbook'? Also, if anyone of you are planning to give it a read, I believe there are legally gray copies that are significantly cheaper on sites like ebay. Cough cough.

I gift this book to my interns:

Unwritten Laws of Engineering: Revised and Updated Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0791801624/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.NCODbW2P4A2D

There's a great book written about this very topic

https://www.amazon.com/Unwritten-Laws-Engineering-Revised-Updated/dp/0791801624/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484838190&sr=8-1&keywords=unwritten+rules+of+engineering

An oldie but a goodie.

This Book covers the general section and also on the NCEES website they sell usually sell a small (25 sample questions I think) book for the individual afternoon sections if you were also curious on that.

If you can do the lindberg book you will ace the test. The questions tend to be at least the level of the FE, sometimes a lot more involved.

It is a good text; I think you can answer your own question just by looking at the table of contents, which you can find here:

​

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521370957

​

These chapters describe the building blocks of basically any modern circuit - although you probably won't be able to assemble your own microprocessor from scratch by reading this text since that would require a lot of knowledge of CMOS production techniques.

Forget technical skills. You can easily enough learn technical skills on the job. Learn some people skills

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/1439167346/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344437047&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+win+friends+and+influence+people

http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-10th-Anniversary-Matter/dp/055380491X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344437033&sr=1-1&keywords=emotional+intelligence

Pen: Sakura Micron-05
Pencil: rOtring 600

Mark's Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers

https://www.amazon.com/Marks-Standard-Handbook-Mechanical-Engineers/dp/0071428674

A mark's handbook will probably get you started --

http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Handbook-Mechanical-Engineers-Edition/dp/0071428674/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398184423&sr=8-1&keywords=mark%27s+handbook

Mark's Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers: has everything you would ever need, and more.

Machinery's Handbook
https://www.amazon.com/Machinerys-Handbook-Large-Print-Oberg/dp/083113092X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1519088516&sr=8-2&keywords=machinery%27s+handbook

Mark's Handbook
https://www.amazon.com/Marks-Standard-Handbook-Mechanical-Engineers/dp/0071428674/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519088467&sr=1-3&keywords=Mechanical+Engineering+handbook

You should probably check out this book.


http://www.amazon.ca/Electrical-Machines-Drives-Power-Systems/dp/0131776916

Finally picked up my copy today.

Have you read this yet? If not, it's time: https://smile.amazon.com/Unwritten-Laws-Engineering-Revised-Updated/dp/0791801624?sa-no-redirect=1

Unwritten Laws of Engineering: Revised and Updated Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0791801624/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_iEXYub12PRS8Y

A must have in my opinion

This book is what I get every one of our engineering interns - https://www.amazon.com/Unwritten-Laws-Engineering-Revised-Updated/dp/0791801624

The first link is broken - here y'all go if anyone is as lazy as I am :)

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

I'm also travelling soon, and I'm looking forward to reading this!