Engineer’s Scraper Glossary

29th February 2020


Engineer’s scraper glossary


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		Abrasion
		Abrasion is the means by which an object can become scratched, scuffed, worn down or rubbed away.

		Alloy
		An alloy is a metal that has been made by combining two or more metals together to produce a final product which has better properties than the pure elements from which it is made. Bronze is an example of an alloy.

		Brittle
		The brittleness of a material is a measure of how easily it will break and shatter rather than stretching or compressing, when stress forces are applied to it.

		Burrs
		Burrs are raised pieces of metal protruding from the surface an object.

		Convex
		Convex is when an object curves outwards, as can be seen in the blue shape, and is the opposite of concave (curving inwards), as can be seen in the red shape.

		Hardness
		Hardness is a measure of how well a material resists scratching and changing its shape when a force is applied to it.

		High spots
		These are like miniature mountains on the surface of the work piece that sit higher than the rest.

		Lapping
		Can be done by hand or machine and involves rubbing two surfaces over one another with an abrasive material separating them.

		Mating surface
		Mating surfaces are two surfaces that are in contact with each other, such as the cylinder block and cylinder head of a car engine.

		Quenching
		Quenching is the process of rapidly cooling metal during manufacturing, often using water. It’s done as part of heat treating to achieve desirable properties in the metal, such as strength and hardness.

		Rusting
		Rusting is a form of corrosion undergone by metals that contain iron. It occurs when such metals are left unprotected in the presence of oxygen and moisture in the atmosphere.

		Toughness
		Toughness is the measure of a material’s ability to stretch or compress without breaking or shattering when a force is applied to it.