Glossary Terms

Operation in which the workpiece is placed against the side of a wheel rather than the wheel’s periphery. See grinding.

Adjustable device for a contour bandsaw that positions stock to allow the sawing of arcs and circular shapes on a contour bandsaw.

Form of relief given to the face of an endmill to prevent undesirable contact with the work. Similar to clearance.

Attaches to a milling-machine table and precisely indexes the workpiece. Allows equally spaced cuts to be made when machining gear and sprocket teeth, spline keys, serrations, etc.

Cutter for milling dovetail slots. See milling cutter.

Removal of undesirable materials from “loaded” grinding wheels using a single- or multi-point diamond or other tool. The process also exposes unused, sharp abrasive points. See loading; truing.

Accessory that holds a workpiece securely while guiding a drill or other tool into the workpiece. Ensures accurate, repeatable location.

Used to check a drill’s entry angle into a workpiece. Also used to check accuracy when grinding drills.

Operation in which a rotating tool is used to create a round hole in a workpiece. Drilling is normally the first step in machining operations such as boring, reaming, tapping, counterboring, countersinking and spotfacing.

Machine designed to rotate end-cutting tools. Can also be used for reaming, tapping, countersinking, counterboring, spotfacing and boring.

End-cutting tool for drilling. Tool has shank, body and angled face with cutting edges that drill the hole. Drills range in size from “microdrills” a few thousandths of an inch in diameter up to spade drills, which may cut holes several inches in diameter.

Attaches to a lathe spindle and has a slot or slots that engage a driving dog to turn the work. Usually used in conjunction with centers. See centers; driving dog.