Abrasive – a substance used for abrading, grinding, polishing, lapping such as natural materials Emery, Garnet, Flint and the manufactured or electric furnace materials: Aluminum Oxide, Silicon Carbide, and Alumina Zirconia.
Abrasive Belt – A closed loop of coated abrasives that range from small handheld machines to very large machines that use 5ft wide.
Abrasive Planing – Rough sanding of glued-up wood panels or lumber prior to intermediate sanding or application of overlays.
Alumnia Ziconia – A high-performance alloyed abrasive formed by zirconia deposited in an alumina matrix. An alloy of aluminum oxide and zicconia oxide. Designed for heavy stock removal for metal and wood, self-sharpening characteristic. Belts are normally blue in color.
Alumina Oxide – An abrasives made by fusing the mineral bauxite. A very strong and tough abrasive. The most commonly used abrasive used for wood and metal.
Anneal – To heat a metal piece to its critical temperature and then allow it to cool slowly, thus reducing brittleness and increasing ductility.
Antistatic – special coated abrasive for woodworking which reduces static electricity buildup and allows sanding dust to be better collected by the dust collecting system.
Arbor – The spindle of the grinding or machine on which the flapwheel, contact wheel is mounted on.
Area of Contact – The total area of the grinding surface of a coated abrasive product in contact with the work being ground.
Assemblies – abrasive used in the loading of a Vonnegut head. Available with the abrasive strips in a scored in a straight or staggered configuration, used for the fine sanding of wood contoured parts.
Automatic Tracking – A system that ensures the coated abrasive belt runs true on a contact roll or idler, by either an electric eye or air systems and constantly adjusts belts during operation to maintain consistent tracking.
Backing – A flexible or semi – rigid material to which abrasive grain is bonded by an adhesive. Paper, cloth, a and vulcanized fibre.
Backstand – for offhand grinding and finishing, floor mounted machine the work piece is applied to the contact wheel below the center line.
Back-Up Pad – Usually a rubber type material to which an abrasive disc is attached. The pad supports the disc during the grinding operation.
Belt Joint (Splice) – The area of an abrasive belt where the two ends are spliced together with an adhesive.
Belt Splice – The area where the two ends of an abrasive belt meet and are spliced together using adhesive and tape.
Belt Tension – The force put on a coated abrasive belt during use, normally expressed in pounds per inch of belt.
Benchstand Grinder – An offhand grinding machine attached to a bench with either one or two wheels mounted on a horizontal spindle.
Bond – the layers of adhesive in in the making process of coated abrasives
Butt Joint – Two pieces of coated abrasives “butted” together with no overlap to form an endless belt. Reinforced tape is used on the back of the joint to hold it together.
Cast Steel – Steel which has been made into desired shape by the casting method.
Centerless Grinding – A machine on which cylindrical work pieces are placed between a coated abrasive belt and regulating wheels. Primarily used in high production applications, center less grinding has various forms that include thru feed and plunge grinding.
Chatter or Chatter Marks –An undesirable, repetitive pattern created on the surface of the work piece, usually at regularly – spaced intervals, due to an out of round- of – round or out of balance condition in the abrasive machine, or improper belt splice.
Combination Sanding Head –A wide belt grinding head that ha s the option of using the contact roll or plated either individually or in tandem.
Composite Panel – man-made wood panels made up of core material similar to particleboard, with a thin veneer of softwood on each
face.
Contact Wheel or Contact Roll – The wheel usually rubber, metal or felt, over which a coated abrasive belt and against which work is applied. Aggressiveness varies with the density, angle and depth of serration and ratio of groove – width to land – width.
Contour – sanding of irregular – shape parts or compound.
Conventional Grinding – the work piece is presented to the abrasive belt opposite the direction the belt is running.
Conveyor Grinding – Usually an endless belt configuration that positions, holds, moves and finally clears the work piece through the abrasives belt on a sanding machine.
Cross Grain Scratch – A scratch created by sanding across or a 90 degree angle to the direction of the wood grain.
Cutting Rate – The amount of material removed by a coated abrasive from the work piece.
D-A Sander – Dual Action, or random orbital sander. Scratch pattern is random and very fine and usually hand held.
Deburring – A process to remove burrs and metal edges that result from machining operations Methods include hand held and automatic processes that use coated abrasives and surface conditioning products.
Depth of Cut – refers to the amount of stock removed during each pass of the sanding or grinding operation. Usually expressed in the thousandths of an inch.
Die Casting – A method of producing castings to finished size by forcing molten metal into a suitable mold. An object or part formed by die-casting.
Disc – A round, flat – coated abrasive product with or without a center hole that is affixed to a rotating or oscillating plate or back up pad for portable or stationary grinding.
Disc Back-Up Pad - A support pad designed to back up a coated abrasive disc during grinding. Back – up pads are made of rubber, foam, or metal.
Disc Grinder or Sander – A machine on which abrasive disc are used for grinding or sanding. Usually refers to circular motion disc machines.
Draw Sander –A special platen type sander for sanding the dovetails of wooden drawers after assembly.
Drop Forging – A shaped object formed between dies by the use of a drop hammer.
Durometer – An instrument used to measure the hardness of rubber and other material Related to the performance characteristics of rubber contact wheels.
Edge Sander – A machine used for edge sanding in a furniture plant.
Edge Sanding – The sanding of any furniture components requiring flatness and squareness.
Fabrication – Work done in the shop or factory, such as cutting, punching, subassembling, welding sections together. Making by combining parts, assembling.
Feed Rate – The distance that the stock is being processed move during a given interval of time or operation cycle.
Felt – Used in strips or sheets as a soft backing on a platen, underneath the graphite canvas. Reduces the scratches of the sanding belt and allows for more conformability.
F.E.P.A. – “Federation of European Producers of Abrasives” A grading system for abrasives grain to differentiate it from the US A.N.S.I. system. Products graded in the F.E.P.A. system have the letter P prior to the grit.
Flex - The controlled breaking of the adhesive bond that holds the grain to the backing of a coated abrasives product. More flexibility is needed for contoured work pieces.
Forge – To shape hot metal by hammering or pressing.
Foundry – A process in which parts are cast from metal.
F.P.M. – Feet per minute.
Gel Coat – A plastic finish sprayed onto fiberglass which gives it the smooth, glossy look.
Glazing – Excessive heat buildup causing metal to weld to the grain tips, resulting in loss of cut.
Glue Bond – Coated abrasive products that use animal hide glue in both the maker and size adhesive coats.
Grading – The process used to separate abrasive grains into specific size groupings.
Grinding – removing material (other than wood) with a coated abrasive product.
Grit – Designation of abrasive grain size, reflecting the number of the smallest openings per linear inch in the screen through which the grain will pass.
Hand Block Sanding – Using a flat block when sanding with belts or sheets, usually to finish wood workpiece. Flat hand blocks are used to polish flat stock, while formed blocks are used to sand shaped moldings.
Hot Rolled – Commercial steel which has been rolled while hot.
Idler – A machine part in a belt system which provides belt tracking and belt tensioning adjustments.
Intermediate Grinding – Those grinding operations not considered either heavy stock removal or polishing. Some stock removal present. Some stock removal present but mainly to remove scratch marks from the previous coarse grits.
Jig – Devices which hold a work piece in position while it is ground on.
Joint Angle – The angle of the belt joint to the edge of the belt. Usually 45 to 75 degrees from the belt edge.
Jumbo Roll – A large roll of coated abrasive product as it is wound after the manufacturing process. Jumbos are fabricated into finished products for industrial and consumer use.
Land\Groove Ratio – The ratio of widths of the land to the grooves on a serrated rubber wheel or roll.
Loading – Filling of the spaces between abrasive grains on a coated abrasive product with grinding particles, resulting in a decrease in stock removal and rate of cut.
Maker – A machine that manufactures coated abrasive products by combining the backing, adhesive, and abrasive grain.
Make Coat – The first abrasive coat which adheres the abrasive grain to the backing of coated abrasive products, thereby ensuring proper anchoring and orientation of the abrasive grain.
Matte Finish – A dull finish or surface appearance. Same as “satin finish” usually.
Millwork – Planed and patterned lumber for finish work in buildings.
Mill Scale – A layer of oxide, black in color, which forms on the surface of hot rolled steel.
Mold Sanding – Sanding and finishing of wood moldings using a mold block and very flexible coated abrasive.
M.S.D.S. – Information provided to end users of all types consumable products which is required by OSHA and EPA.
Narrow Belts – Coated abrasives products made in belt form up to 12” in width.
Offhand Sanding or Grinding – Applying the work piece manually to the moving coated abrasive, as when holding it freehand against an abrasive belt.
Open Coat – A coated abrasive product in which the abrasive grain covers 50% to 70% of the coated side surface.
Oscillating Belt – Repetitive lateral movement of the belt on its pulleys.
Particleboard – A manufactured wood panel product which consists of pressed wood particles held together with resin.
P Grade – European grading system of F.E.P.A. for coated abrasive grain.
Platen – Flat or shaped support which backs up a coated abrasive belt in the area where the work piece is applied.
Platen Sander – Coated abrasive machine utilizing a platen. The platen provides an area of contact to the abrasive belt.
Plywood – Composite panel or board made up of cross-banded layers of veneer only or veneer in combination with of lumber or of particleboard bonded with adhesive.
Polishing – Act of smoothing off the roughness or putting a high finish on metal by using fine grit coated abrasive belt.
Polyester – Synthetic cloth material used as a backing for coated abrasives products. Very tuff and tear resistant.
PSA – “Pressure Sensitive Adhesive” An adhesive applied to the backing of coated abrasive products for easy product application and removal.
Pump Sleeve – Coated abrasive product that is made for mounting on a pneumatic pump drum.
RA – Finish measurement which is the “arithmetic average” Measurement of average peaks and valleys of a surface.
Resin – A synthetic adhesive used as bonding coat for coated abrasive products.
Rolls – Form of coated abrasives usually in 50 yard lengths in various widths.
Rough Lumber Sanding – The first sanding operation on lumber, after the sawing operation, to remove saw marks and bring stock up to a predetermined thickness.
Rough Sanding or Rough Grinding – The first grinding operation for reducing stock rapidly.
Scalloped Edge Belt – Special slitting of narrow belts so that the edges are scalloped. To reduce the cutting or marking of work with contours from a standard edge belt. A flexed material is often used for this operation.
Serrated Contact Wheel – Contact wheel with grooves milled into the face to increase the cutting action of the coated abrasive belt and prolong life.
Serration – Grooves cut into a contact wheel which increases cutting action and life.
Shedding – The loss of grain from a coated abrasive product.
Silicon Carbide – Made from coke and silica sand. Very sharp and hard abrasive used on finished surfaces, rubber, plastic, nonferrous metals and other types of materials. Cuts with very low pressure.
Size Coat – Second adhesive coat applied to an abrasive product. For the final anchoring of the grain.
Skive – The grain removal and taper operation performed on both ends of a coated abrasives belt prior to clueing and joining the two ends.
Slack of Belt Sander – A machine in which the work piece is taken to the coated abrasive belt between the two pulleys on the unsupported area of the belt.
Stroke Sander – A machine that makes sanding contact by stroking the back of a moving coated abrasive belt with a backup block or pad over a table which supports the work piece.
Surface Conditioning – Cleaning and deburring, does not remove in this process.
Torn Edge Belt – Coated abrasives belt fabricated with one belt edge torn lengthwise to ensure straight tearing of subsequent narrower belts when they are ripped to a narrower width.
Tracking – Adjusting the idler pulley in a coated abrasive belt machine so the belt is properly aligned on the contact wheel.
Wide Belt – Coated abrasive products made in belt form 18” or wider.
Zinc Stearate – A dry lubricant added to the surface of coated abrasives which prevents loading of soft materials.