Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:

I am curious what you guys would want in a book.
I am looking for a balance of technical info to step by step
descriptions.

Lots of pictures and likely I will do at least 1 dvd or tape to work
with the book.
I will likely start with a general welding book and move on to a TIG
specific book, or maybe the other way around.
I need both for teaching and if it is an actual published book the
school can buy them.

You've gotten a lot of great feedback already, but I'd like to add my
$0.02 to the pile. My comments will be a little more general in nature.

I would like to see a book that covered gas, stick, and TIG welding
because those are the processes that I would use most. I'm learning
on gas now, but want to use stick for the thicker metals and for
structural stuff that I will build around the farm. I will use TIG
later if I produce any metalwork that needs to have clean/pretty welds
such as furniture, etc.

I think that a book that explains the *why*, the principles behind a
process/technique would be far superior to a book just showing how to
do something. I've never learned (really learned) how to do something
from a recipe or a list of steps. In my experience learning to
duplicate a set of steps is worthless because when faced with a new
situation or problem to solve, the recipe doesn't fit and you don't
have the skills to adapt to the situation or problem.

Also, I think that a DVD would be an excellent idea. I have some DVDs
from WeldingVideos.com and they are fantastic. To see the welds being
made close-up and have the action stop and various things pointed out
during the process is very very helpful. And, because it's on DVD, I
can go right to a particular section and watch it over and over and
over. This has the effect of reinforcing what I've read in other
books and shows me what I should/will be seeing when I go out to the
barn and fire up my torch. Then I can go back inside and review and
compare what I saw to what the video showed, make adjustments and go
out and have another successful practice session.

I hope this helps identify some of my needs and some things that may
be beneficial to others.

rvb