This is the first book in Gingery's series showing you how to build a complete metal working shop from scrap for almost nothing. You must have the foundry setup in order to build the lathe, milling machine and other tools described in each of the other books. Castings make strong and precise machine tool components. You'd go broke buying the castings, if they were available, but you can make them for almost nothing in your own foundry. Building machine tools takes hours and hours, but building the charcoal foundry is far simpler, and loads of fun. You can make castings for any purpose. Almost anyone can build a furnace, and you will become "hooked" on melting metal once you try it. The Charcoal Foundry is a small book worth every penny of its price and then some. Every page is loaded with practical how-to and useful advice. You get many, many drawings and excellent photographs that will show you step-by-step how to build a foundry.