Similarly, there were the _Foxfire_ books which attempted to document the knowledge and skills of Appalachians, or W. Ben Hunt's writings on woodcraft and his i

Similarly, there were the _Foxfire_ books which attempted to document the knowledge and skills of Appalachians, or W. Ben Hunt's writings on woodcraft and his interpretation of Native American Indian lore which was shared with him. For a mechanical approach to this, see the "Gingery" books which start with the basics of investment casting in the first volume, then using castings to make a lathe in the second (operating on the premise that a lathe is the only tool in a machine shop which can replicate itself), then using the lathe to make the balance of tools needed in a machine shop.