Definition of "swarf"

Filings of iron, called Swarf, the barrel — — 0 [shillings] 2 [pence]

1770, Samuel Baldwin, “The Package Table of Rates Outwards”, in A Survey of the British Customs; Containing the Rates of Merchandize as Established by 12 Car. II. C. 4, 11 Geo. I. C. 7, and Other Statutes; with Tables of the Net Duties, Drawbacks, Bounties, &c. Payable thereon, under All Circumstances of Importation and Exportation. Also a Distinct and Practical Account of the Several Branches of the Revenue Called the Customs. With an Appendix, Containing an Abstract of All the Laws now in Force Relative to the Customs. The Whole Continued to the End of the Session of 9 Geo. III, London: Printed for J[ohn] Nourse, bookseller in ordinary to His Majesty, opposite Catherine-Street, in the Strand, page 43

The softest and almost the cleanest iron for turning for cotton and other machinery is made from wrought iron swarf (or turnings). Sometimes the swarf is worked by itself, but commonly a ball is made of good swarf, and while hot, fine swarf is thrown into the furnace, and the ball is rolled about so that the swarf adheres to it, and it is then taken to the hammer.

1866, John Henry Pepper, “Iron”, in The Playbook of Metals: Including Personal Narratives of Visits to Coal, Lead, Copper, and Tin Mines; with a Large Number of Interesting Experiments Relating to Alchemy and the Chemistry of the Fifty Metallic Elements, new edition, London, New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons, Broadway, Ludgate Hill; New York, 129, Grand Street, page 372

As sandpaper is pushed across wood, the abrasive grains dig into the surface and cut out minute shavings, which are called swarf in industry jargon.

2004, Strother Purdy, “Making Sense of Sandpaper”, in Traditional Finishing Techniques (The New Best of Fine Woodworking), Newtown, Conn.: Taunton Press, section 1 (Surface Preparation), page 5

Turning of the internal features of horn antennas is an operation where particular attention must be paid to swarf control. Techniques such as the use of extreme flood coolant, interrupting the feed to break swarf, and regular withdrawals of the tool to clear the working area may be necessary, particular on CNC [computer numerical control] machines where the operator has no "feel" or sight of the process.

2008, Christophe Granet, Graeme L. James, A. Ross Forsyth, “Aperture Antennas: Waveguides and Horns”, in Constantine A. Balanis, editor, Modern Antenna Handbook, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, section 3.5.4.3 (Swarf Control and Removal)

These swarfs, especially if they are of the tin bronze type, can usually be re-melted, after passing over a magnetic separator, by adding a small percentage to each charge of the alloy issued to the foundry for melting.

1940, The Metal Industry: An Illustrated Weekly Journal Dealing with Non-ferrous Metals, volume 56, London: Louis Cassier Company, page 456, column 1

Harrogate looked at the ground. A black swarf packed with small parts in a greasy mosaic.

1979 May, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, New York, N.Y.: Random House; republished as Suttree (Vintage Contemporaries), 1st Vintage International edition, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, 1986, page 95

When the uncut swarf thickness increases beyond the minimum swarf thickness, the elastic deformation phenomena decrease significantly and the entire depth of cut is removed as a swarf as shown in Fig. 9.9c.

2017, Yoshimi Ito, Takashi Matsumura, “Mechanisms for Metal Cutting and Grinding”, in Theory and Practice in Machining Systems, Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, page 226

A machine for swarfing the joining edges of parts or sub-assemblies having compound angle surfaces is announced by the Rockford Machine Tool Co., Rockford, 111.

1958, “Rockford Hydraulic Swarfing Machine”, in Machinery, volume 65, part 2, New York, N.Y.: Industrial Press, page 160, column 1

Hydraulic mill is used for swarfing the joining edges of parts or sub-assemblies with compound surfaces.

1959, Aircraft and Missiles Manufacturing, volume 2, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Company, page 114, column 1

This weakend[sic – meaning weakened] layer is swarfed off by rubbing of chip, consequently, severe cratering is manifested on tool face after total cutting time Tc. However, the whole interacted layer is not swarfed off, and the influence of thin residual layer is ignored at the theoretical analysis.

1976, Bulletin of the Japan Society of Precision Engineering, Tokyo: Japan Society of Precision Engineering, page 90, column 2

Meg, rinnin like a flae in blanket, / Her coats upon a lang nail hanket, / That gart her coup the creels [i.e., fall head over heels] an' ſqueel, / "Ah! Sirce, I'm gruppet by a de'il!" / An' as ſhe near the threſhold lay, / Wae's me! ſhe near hand ſwarf'd away!

1796, “G.” [i.e., Richard Gall], “The Tint Quey;[sic – meaning Cow] or Thrawart Maggy”, in Archibald Steel, Richard Gall, The Twa Cuckolds; and The Tint Quey, or Thrawart Maggy. Two Tales, in the Scottish Dialect, Edinburgh: Printed for and sold by the booksellers, page 20

Moreover, the evil reputation of the master, and his strange and doubtful end, or at least, sudden disappearance, prevented any, excepting the most desperate of men, to seek any advice or opinion from the servant; wherefore, the poor vermin was likely at first to swarf for very hunger.

1821 January 8, [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Kenilworth; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, […]; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., page 235

But afore her volumes fell into my hauns, my soul had been frichtened by a' kinds of traditionary terrors, and mony hunder times hae I maist swarfed wi' fear in lonesome spats in muirs and woods, at midnicht, when no a leevin thing was movin but mysel and the great moon.

1826 July, John Wilson, “Noctes Ambrosianae. No. XXVII.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume XX, number CXIV, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, Strand, London, page 107

And when they had ſo continued feaſting for a ſhort time, they had been ſo ſerved before, and the food was ſo rare and excellent, that they fell into a ſwarf, and cried out, Cant[icle of Canticles] ii. 4, 5. 'He hath brought me into the banqueting-houſe, and his banner over me was love. O ſtay me with flaggons, comfort me with apples, for I am ſick of love.'

1795, John Adamson, The Loss and Recovery of Elect Sinners: With the Difficulty of Their Coming Back Again to Glory. Methodically Held Forth under the Similitude of Captives Ransomed and Returning from Slavery, Paisley, Renfrewshire: Printed by J. Neilson, for James Gillies, bookseller, Glasgow, page 227