Cutting

Cutting is the process whereby the form of an original object is changed by removing material from that object. The object from which the material is removed may have been itself produced by another manufacturing process.

Cutting can take place with a single point tool, either as a single point or as multiple points. Alternatively it can be by a edge tool, commonly referred to as a blade.

At one time all cutting required a tool made harder material to cut softer materials. The first non tool cutting process involved the use of burning gases to burn through materials. Subsequent technological developments have seen the use or water jets, plasma jets, wires and lasers as cutting tools.

Generally cutting processes can only form a shape in two dimensions, although multiple manipulation of a tool means that three dimensional forms are produced. There are a few specialised processes that do produce a three dimensional form directly from the material removing tool.

Production Engineering Main Page --wahiba 08:50, 17 February 2007 (UTC)