Material Removal and Shaping Processes
How is a raw block of metal turned into a finished part? Learn the difference between removing material and shaping it, and match the everyday workshop processes to what they do.
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Free interactive practice on the steps that lose marks under exam pressure.
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Making the part
A finished engineered part rarely starts that shape. It begins as raw material that a maker turns into the right form using a manufacturing process. Two big families do most of the work: MATERIAL REMOVAL cuts material away, and SHAPING deforms it into a new form. This module is about telling them apart and knowing which process does what.
Removal words
Four common material-removal processes. Learn what each one does.
Remove or shape?
Every process here belongs to one of two families.
Match the removal process
- Turning
- Milling
- Drilling
- Chemical etching
- Rotating a workpiece on a lathe against a cutting tool
- Using a rotating cutter to machine a flat face or slot
- Cutting round holes into the material
- Using acid to dissolve away material and leave a pattern
Which process?
You need to make several identical round holes in a metal bracket. Which process do you use?
- Drilling
- Bending
- Turning
- Folding
A third way
There is a third family. Additive manufacturing, such as 3D printing, builds a part up in thin layers, adding material rather than cutting it away or deforming it. It is the opposite idea to material removal.
Match the shaping process
- Bending
- Press forming
- Punching
- Stamping
- Forcing material round to a new angle
- Pressing sheet material over or into a former
- Shearing out a hole or shape with a punch and die
- Pressing a shape or pattern into the surface
Material removal
Which TWO of these are MATERIAL REMOVAL processes? Choose all that apply.
- Milling
- Chemical etching
- Bending
- Press forming
Make the bracket
Put the steps of making a simple metal bracket into a sensible order.
- Mark out the material
- Cut it to size
- Drill the fixing holes
- Bend it to shape
- Finish the surface
Turning, milling and shaping
Rotating a workpiece on a lathe against a cutting tool is called _____. Using a rotating cutter to machine a flat face is _____. Making round holes is _____. Removing material with acid to leave a pattern is chemical _____. Shearing out a hole with a punch and die is _____.
Spot the shaping
Tap the TWO shaping processes.
- Bending
- Press forming
- Turning
- Drilling
No tool touches it
You want to cut an intricate flat pattern out of thin sheet metal using acid, with no cutting tool touching it. Which process is this?
- Chemical etching
- Milling
- Bending
- Stamping
Choose the process
For each task, choose the process that fits best.
- You need several identical round holes in a steel plate. Which process?
- You need to fold a flat metal sheet to a 90 degree bracket. Which process?
- You need to remove metal to leave a smooth flat machined face. Which process?
Removal or shaping
Explain the difference between material removal and shaping processes.
- Explain what a material-removal process does
- Explain what a shaping process does
- Give one example of each