Manufacturing Glossary
Aluminum chips from CNC milling, to be recycled
2D (Two-Dimensional) - Used in eMachineShop to refer to parts made from sheet material.
3D (Three-Dimensional) - Used in eMachineShop to refer to parts made from blocks of material.
Axis - A principal direction along which the relative movements of a tool or work piece occur. Three linear axes, occurring at 90 degree angles from each other, named X, Y and Z.
CAD - (Computer Aided Design) The use of computers to assist in design of mechanical parts and other items.
CAM - (Computer Aided Manufacturing) The use of computers to assist in manufacturing.
CNC - (Computerized Numerical Control) The computer control of fabrication machines to make custom parts.
Coefficient of friction - The ratio of the friction force to
normal force. For example, if it takes 1 lb of force to slide a 10 lb
weight along a level surface the coefficient of friction is 0.1. The
coefficient depends on the two materials involved.
Creep - The deformation of a part over time when under constant stress.
Friction - Mechanical resistance of motion between two surfaces. See Static Friction and Dynamic Friction.
G-Code - The industry standard programming language that instructs a CNC machine what to do.
Galling - A type of wear that occurs when one surface slides
against another where particles of one part stick to the other part or break away from the surface.
Machining Center - Machine tools, normally Numerically Controlled, capable of automatically repeating many operations such as drilling, reaming, tapping, milling, and boring multiple faces on a work piece.
Machine Tool - A power driven machine used to form or shape metal and other materials.
N/C - Numerical Control - The technique of controlling a machine or process by using programmed command instructions in coded numerical format.
Nudge - The process of moving a line a fixed small distance across the screen using the arrow keys on the keyboard.
Pitch - the nominal distance between centers of repetitive shapes.
Polyline - A line having several segments. For example, a rectangle is a polyline with four segments.
Roughness - A measurable degree of non-smoothness of the surface related to the height of the peaks and valleys.
Set screw
- A threaded fastener typically used to lock a sleeve, collar or gear
on a shaft. Set screws are normally headless. Set screw points can have
various shapes including cup, cone, oval, flat and dog.
Shank - The section of a bolt between the head and the threads. Or the section of a cutting tool that is held.
Snap - The process of moving one line so it exactly meets a key point on another line.
Static friction - The friction between two surfaces having no
relative motion. It is the force required to start relative movement.
Also known as stiction. Static friction is usually more than dynamic
friction.
Tangent - Two curves or lines that are parallel at the point where they meet.
Toolpath - The path that a cutting tool traverses in order to remove material to create a shape.
Torque - A measure of twisting force applied to a fastener,
shaft or other rotating member. Force is often measured in
newton-metres (Nm) or foot-pounds (ft-lb).
Tolerance - The acceptable variation in measurement.
Z Axis - The third dimension that cannot directly be shown in a flat drawing. The distance out from the drawing towards yourself.
