RoughMachine's Field Guide
A shop reference and calculator built by a working machinist.
The Field Guide covers tap drills and thread limits, fits, fasteners, speeds and feeds, materials, heat treat, welding and cutting, and the shop math in between. The numbers come from tables compiled from makers' catalogs, standards-based references and published charts, checked against a second source where one exists. Anything resting on one source is marked ⚠, and every page lists where its numbers come from.
Full app coming — in private beta
The complete Field Guide is being tested by a small group of machinists right now. It isn't open to the public yet. Until it is, two of its calculators are free to use here.
Free calculators
Speeds and feeds — mill and lathe
Pick the material and the cutter, enter the diameter: starting SFM, spindle RPM, chip load and feed rate, in inch or metric.
Open speeds and feedsTrig calculator
Right triangles made simple: enter any two values and get the rest, with every step shown. Plus a bolt circle calculator for hole positions.
Open the trig calculatorWhat's in the full Field Guide
The full app will be a paid app once the beta is done. Pricing will be announced when it opens. Here is what it has today — more than 70 pages, all in one search:
Threads and holes
Tap drills with the shop-standard drill first, thread limits and wire sizes, pipe threads (NPT, BSP), drill chart, lathe threading, fasteners and bolt torque, pins, retaining rings and rivets.
Prints and tolerances
Print reading, ISO and inch fits (press, slip, running), GD&T explained with lessons, surface finish.
Shop math and machining
Trig and shop calculators, speeds and feeds for lathe, mill and drilling, insert grades and coatings, tool makers' own speed charts, tapers and collets, gears and knurling, measuring.
Materials
Material properties and specs, bar weight, identifying unknown metal, heat treat, hardness conversion, thermal growth.
Welding and cutting
Stick rods and filler metals, TIG, MIG and flux-core settings, brazing and soldering, oxy-fuel, plasma, laser and waterjet cut charts, spray coating, epoxy repair.
Fabrication
Sheet metal and press brake, pipe and tube fab, layout and rolling, structural shapes.
Mechanical and maintenance
Torque, shaft alignment, couplings, QD, split taper and Taper-Lock bushings with hub machining data, roller and welded steel chain with a sprocket calculator, belts, bearings with an old-number cross-reference, lip seals, rigging, motors and vibration.
Hydraulics and air
Cylinder seals and a seal identifier, O-rings and glands, hose and crimp specs, fittings and couplers, cylinders and pumps.
CNC
G and M codes compared across nine controls, macros, probing, and wire and sinker EDM settings.
Grinding
Grinding wheels, surface and cylindrical grinding, tool and drill grinding.
- Search that reads plain questions, like "tap drill for a 1 inch UNF bolt"
- Every table lists its sources; anything resting on one source is marked ⚠
- Inch and metric everywhere
- Works with no signal once it has been opened
Who makes it
The Field Guide is built by Bradley Pitek, an industrial repair machinist in Fortuna, California. It is a reference tool only: no ads, no social features, nothing but getting a machinist the right number faster.
Contact
Questions, corrections or a number you think is wrong? Email us.