Swarf ..?..

[weedie]

G'day all,
A mate and I were machining a 3'' piece of Aluminium bar on his milling machine the other day,which will become an engine mount for a model aeroplane...
As we watched the metal flying off the alloy (This can be quite hypnotic really !) I wondered about the origin of the word Swarf ,which is what these metal shavings are called ...
Anyone one out there know how the word Swarf came about ?? .
Best wishes from OZ...weedie..

[Feadoggie]

I believe it is named for it's originator, Hieronimus Swarf. What a messy shoppe!

or if you like from Merriam Webster

Etymology: probably from Middle English *swerf, from Old English geswearf, gesweorf; akin to Old English sweorfan to file away — more from swerve akin to Old High German swerban to wipe off, Welsh chwerfu to whirl. Date:1565

[weedie]

Thanks to you Mr Feadoggie......
Yep,thats a plausible explanation.." Old English sweorfan to file away "...so I think I'll go with that.
My mate will be happy too ,he's an Englishman and an Engineer and had never heard about the origins of the word either...

Have to agree to other as well.Those Heironimus's's's' are all over the shoppe innit

[Mitch]

AAArrrrrr, jabber ne timbers and don yer mask,

The jobs ava me maties

the spinnin jennie's growlin loud

Tha metal's hot as Hades

Tha swarf is on the leeward an' we sets oor jig fre cuttin'.

An keep yer brasives larbord as we push er hard as mutton.

The lathe, she got the hammers and the mill aint made fer flour,

we'll oil the jib and dodge the swarf

till the decibel cufew hour.

Fer swarf she is a sly young thing

shell screw you if yer willin'

shell cut you to the very quick

and get yer blood a'spillin'

Yer gloves had better be yer friend

Your wits will be about ya

or never you'll bed this fine young thing

before the quiting hour.

[brewerpaul]

Great poem Mitch. Did you write it?
Glenn Schultz would have LOVED that one.
Luckily for us, wood swarf is not nearly so dangerous...unless you inhale it's dust.

[brewerpaul]

In case you want some pretty swarf pictures:

This is swarf from acetal polymer (generic Delrin). This stuff comes off the lathe tool in one continuous ribbon: this picture represents the product of ONE pass of the lathe tool along the 7" body of an acetal whistle. If I just let it come off, it wraps around and around the work and soon starts to interfere with the feeding of the lathe tool, leaving marks on the piece which are the very devil to sand off. To prevent this, I snatch the beginning of the ribbon off of the tool as it starts to come off and then reel it in, hand over hand for the whole length of the piece. This means I have to pay total attention to the lathe as it spins, as opposed to being able to tend to other little things while the lathe runs.



These "rosettes" are the result of gundrilling a piece of acetal:



A gundrill is a special tool for boring a straight, blind, deep hole such as a gun barrel or whistle tube. Compressed air is fed in and debris from the boring shoots out a channel in the drill. In the case of wood, the debris comes out as a fine dust, so I make a temporary tent out of clear plastic for this operation.

[weedie]

Great poem there Mitch...... ...bloody brilliant actually ...
Yes I'd like to know as well.........are you the author ??
It could of come straight out the Industrial Revoulution...a darkenned workshop,the smell of coal,steam and hot oil....the workmen hot and sweaty,looking forward to an ale at the end of the day.......ahhh,I closed me eyes and I was there...

[Brian Lee]

We have the same but in plastic and glass when we edge down lenses to fit into eyeglass frames. Some of it is smelly stuff!