Machinists and fitters use this technique when a part is just slightly too tight to assemble. It involves taking a very light pass with a mill, lathe, or hand file to take off a few thousandths of an inch. It requires a delicate touch, as going too far will ruin the tolerance and scrap the part.
Heard on the job
The bearing won't seat, so I'm going to shave a hair off the housing bore.
Related terms
Milling
A machining process that uses rotating cutters to remove material from a workpiece.
Feather
The technique of peeling back the sterile wrapper of a disposable instrument to load it without contamination.
Thinning
The dangerous reduction of a material's thickness due to wear, stretching, or corrosion.