Mandrel

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmæn.dɹəl/

Definitions

1. A cylindrical or tapered rod used as a support or guide during manufacturing processes, such as shaping tubes or winding coils
2. A cylindrical component utilized as a support for shaping materials during manufacturing processes, such as metalworking or plastics fabrication
3. A tool that serves as a supporting structure for forming or shaping substances, particularly in manufacturing contexts like metalworking or the creation of polymer items

Etymology: The mandrel in a machine shop was once a bow drill. Its distant ancestor is the Latin "mamphur," a word for a tool that spun a hole through wood or metal by rotating a bow-driven shaft. Latin borrowed it from Oscan or Ancient Greek, where a compound meaning "wearing a collar" (from "mannos," a collar, and "pherein," to bear) seems to have been applied to the device, perhaps because of the collar-like fitting that held the drill bit in place. Over time the word passed into French as "mandrin," a term for a spindle or a tool that holds and turns something. English took it from French, and the sense narrowed toward a rod or arbor around which material is shaped or held during working. The bow drill and the modern steel rod used to bend tubing or cast plastic share little in appearance, but both are spindles that hold something in place while it is turned or formed.

Synonyms: fixture, template, guide