What are /r/MechanicalEngineer's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I usually start with understanding what sort of industries I want to be in and look for potential automation projects. Below are two references that I use for inspiration.

Book: Automating the Boring Stuff with Python

https://www.hackster.io/projects/tags/robotics

Head on over to Overleaf and find a template you like. I think the one I used is called awesomeCV. You can Google enough about LaTeX to fumble your way through the process even if you are not familiar with it at all. Try to talk about what you've accomplished whether it's school, work, personal projects, groups/teams, etc. Good luck.

You asked for advice but I don't see anything shared to provide direct feedback on. If you want more specific feedback just remove pii like name and contact details from your resume and share it if you're comfortable with that.

• There is 1001 Solved Engineering Fundamentals Problems which is probably just what you're after. I occasionally flip through it and have a go, and can see how it could be useful for someone working towards their PE exam. It's a big one; mine weighs about a kilogram - but probably the top contender for you.

• There is Engineer's Practical Databook. It doesn't have exercises but is a neat small summary of the main formula for the main subjects in mechanical eng (with very short explanations) so a good refresher.

I would not recommend the IMechE handbook. It's tiny, and of that tiny book, maybe over half of it consists of pages and pages of written waffle about 'professionalism' aimed at students and young grads. Very disappointed working through that.

• I recall books by Holtzapple and Reece, on "Concepts in Engineering" and "Foundations of Engineering" which I held in high regard for fundamental concepts: Even simple stuff like the exact correct notation on units which too often engineers manage to overlook.

I actually own a pair of these shears. Here is their amazon listing. https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-PowerGear-Super-Pruner-Lopper/dp/B00004SD73 Hopefully some pictures of the actual product in use will provide the additional information you need.

This is Geogebra! Unfortunately this isn't a good place to start usually when it comes to assembling mechanisms due to it being a calculator rather than an actual CAD program.

The way I use this program is actually more to visualize a mechanism I already know will work for the most part. (There's a lot of limitations to the software so you're constantly having to try and reverse engineer things to try and make it cooperate.)

How I'd know that it will work often comes from either just reading what documentation exists of it or, if it's my very own creation, experimenting with a prototype version in Poly Bridge 2. (I seem to be notorious for using programs in ways never intended for their purpose.)

Regardless, if you do want to explore mechanism construction in Geogebra (which is a free program), feel free to reach out to me. I'm always willing to give a helping hand.

Get any copy of Machineries Handbook & Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers https://www.amazon.com/dp/1259588505/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_WTKZWFRGXS5MZ12SJW04?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Wow... pretty disappointed in this sub.

Machinery's Handbook is the mechanical bible for all things hard bodied. Fits, clearances, tolerancing, surface finish etc. etc. etc.

How was that not the top answer in a mechanical engineering sub?

It was designed in accordance with the ASHRAE (US) and AIRAH (AU) guides. As CIBSE doesn't publish their information freely I can't check to see if there are any regional peculiarities, but I can't see any reason they would differ (apart from possibly sizing criteria, which you can customise yourself anyway). There is now a freemium version which you can try for free, so give it a shot and see how it compares to your current calculations.