Turning is a
machining process in which a
cutting tool, typically a non-rotary
tool bit, describes a
helical toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece
rotates. The tool's axes of movement may be literally a straight line, or they may be along some set of curves or angles, but they are essentially linear (in the nonmathematical sense). Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of
external surfaces by this cutting action, whereas this same essential cutting action when applied to
internal surfaces (that is, holes, of one kind or another) is called "
boring". Thus the phrase "turning and boring" categorizes the larger family of (essentially similar) processes. The cutting of faces on the workpiece (that is, surfaces perpendicular to its rotating axis), whether with a turning or boring tool, is called "facing", and may be lumped into either category as a subset.