German-English dictionaries for welding and soldering

I'm often asked to recommend German-English dictionaries for various subjects, since my partner and I are fanatical collectors of references in many areas. So from time to time I will discuss some of the references that have proven very useful in practical work and perhaps a few that haven't.

The Dictionary of Welding by G. R. Lohrmann is one of those bargains I found on eBay. I think it cost me three euros or so there. Amazon.com (the US site) wants $51 for the dictionary. I think I got a much better deal, but I've gotten so much use out of the dictionary in the four years I've had it that it would have been worth it to pay the full price. Which, by the way, is much less if ordered from the German Amazon.de site :-) The dictionary is small - my hand just about covers it - but in translation jobs involving welding equipment and procedures, it has come through for me most of the time. There are about 5000 terms in the German to English part and another 6000 in the English to German section without a lot of filler. The cover, by the way, is not hardback, despite what the American Amazon link says - it's vinyl. All the better for sticking the thing in your pocket if you want to take it with you for a construction site interpreting job or some such thing. Published in 1998, the book is a little dated, however. According to the publisher's web site, a new edition is planned for release in September 2009. I definitely plan to get it and maybe put my old copy back on eBay.

The same publisher (DVS Media) also offers the Dictionary for Electronic Soldering by Mikhail Kudish- its availability seems to be better on the German Amazon siteor from the publisher, but I find this dictionary less valuable. Its production values are much worse - it is just a long typewritten vocabulary list in alphabetical order, the quality of the binding (paperback) is worse and the material is already 18 years old. It's probably due for an update or at least a serious DTP facelift. Still, if you need a German-English soldering terminology, this is probably it. General engineering/technical dictionaries will have the basic terms, but probably not as much specialist detail as you'll find in this reference.