Excerpt from Cam Design and Manufacture Cam movements are among the most useful that the machine designer has at his command, for without them many complicated motions could not be laid out and constructed. When cams are laid out by cut-and-try methods (which is often the case), they are noisy in operation, create a vast amount of friction and are short-lived. On the other hand, if the curves are properly laid out, giving all possible time for the rises, the finished cams can be run at high speeds with very little noise or friction. Under these conditions, cams compare favorably in construction cost and maintenance cost with more complicated mechanical movements used for the same purpose. When it is considered that a practical knowledge of cam design and manufacture is easily acquired, it may seem strange that the majority of technical works on machine design treat this subject lightly; or at least from only a theoretical point of view. While it can not be claimed that any one person knows the whole subject thoroughly, it is certainly possible to explain some of the methods that are in actual use for laying out and cutting cams. The use of the various methods and appliances that are described is not confined to any one locality, by any means, as these methods and appliances have been found in practically every manufacturing center of the country. In the description of the various methods, the writer has avoided using complicated mathematical formulas as it is well known that very few men actually engaged in machine design and construction thoroughly understand them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.