Glossary Terms

Cutoff machine utilizing a circular blade with serrated teeth. See saw, sawing machine.

Cutting tool for a cold or circular saw. Blade is round with serrated cutting teeth.

Space provided behind a tool’s land or relief to prevent rubbing and subsequent premature deterioration of the tool. See land; relief.

Rotation of a milling tool in the same direction as the feed at the point of contact. Chips are cut to maximum thickness at the initial engagement of the cutter’s teeth with the workpiece and decrease in thickness at the end of engagement. See conventional milling.

CNC system in which the program output, or the distance the slide moves, is measured and compared to the program input. The system automatically adjusts the output to be the same as the input.

Flexible-backed abrasive. Grit is attached to paper, fiber, cloth or film. Types include sheets, belts, flap wheels and discs.

Carbide and high-speed-steel tools coated with thin layers of aluminum oxide, titanium carbide, titanium nitride, hafnium nitride or other compounds. Coating improves a tool’s resistance to wear, allows higher machining speeds and imparts better finishes. See CVD, chemical vapor deposition; PVD, physical vapor deposition.

Deforming metal plastically under conditions of temperature and strain rate that induce strain hardening. Working below the recrystallization temperature, which is usually, but not necessarily, above room temperature.

Flexible-sided device that secures a tool or workpiece. Similar in function to a chuck, but can accommodate only a narrow size range. Typically provides greater gripping force and precision than a chuck. See chuck.

Low-grade tool steel; not controlled for hardenability.

Cast iron having a graphite shape intermediate between the flake form typical of gray cast iron and the spherical form of fully spherulitic ductile cast iron. Also known as CG iron, CGI or vermicular iron, it is produced in a manner similar to that of ductile cast iron but using a technique that inhibits the formation of fully spherulitic graphite nodules.

Materials composed of different elements, with one element normally embedded in another, held together by a compatible binder.