author

Franklin Day Jones

1879–1967

A practical engineering writer whose work helped generations of machinists and engineers keep essential formulas, standards, and shop knowledge close at hand. Best known for helping launch Machinery’s Handbook, he wrote in a clear, useful style shaped by real industrial practice.

1 Audiobook

Turning and Boring A specialized treatise for machinists, students in the industrial and engineering schools, and apprentices, on turning and boring methods, including modern practice with engine lathes, turret lathes, vertical and horizontal boring machines

Turning and Boring A specialized treatise for machinists, students in the industrial and engineering schools, and apprentices, on turning and boring methods, including modern practice with engine lathes, turret lathes, vertical and horizontal boring machines

by Franklin Day Jones

About the author

Franklin Day Jones (1879–1967) was an American technical author and editor known for writing about mechanical engineering and toolmaking. He is most closely associated with the first edition of Machinery’s Handbook in 1914, which he prepared with engineer Erik Oberg and which became a long-running reference for manufacturing and machine-shop work.

He also wrote other practical books on workshop methods and machine operations, including material on threading and machining. The sources available describe him less as a literary figure than as a skilled explainer: someone who could turn complex engineering knowledge into straightforward guidance for working professionals.

Because the readily available sources are brief, many personal details about his life are not easy to confirm from the material reviewed here. What is clear is his lasting influence on technical publishing, especially through reference works that served machinists, draftsmen, and engineers for decades.