Alphabet Soup
Abreviations and Acronyms for the Metals Crafts
Not being a military type I hate all these abbreviations and acronyms but you should know the ones that apply to your field of expertise. Besides definitions, this list is now a considerable list of links. Here are some that apply to Blacksmithing among other things (do I need to spell out the first?).
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ABANA

Artists Blacksmiths Association of North America: Publishes the Anvil’s Ring among other things. If you haven’t been a member you should be. I let my membership lapse from time to time but I still refer to my collection of the Anvil’s Ring every so often.

Under ABANA comes dozens of chapters (called affiliates since 2002) with acronyms such as SOFA (Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil), BGoP (Blacksmiths Guild of the Potomac) . . and so on. For these see ABANA-Chapter.com See also CSI.

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Ac1, Ac2, Ac3, Ar3

Points on a metal alloy phase diagram. The “c” is when approached from a lower temperature and the “r” when cooling.
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AFBMA

Anti-Friction Bearing Manufacturers Association. Sets standards for the manufacturing of ball bearings.
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AGMA

American Gear Manufacturers Association. Sets standards for the manufacturing of gears.
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AFA

American Fence Association
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AIBD

American Institute of Building Design
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AIBD

American Institute of Building Design
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AISC

American Institute of Steel Construction: Publishes the AISC steel construction manual. Everything there is to know about structural steel (beams, rails, columns). Detailed dimensional and engineering specs for structurals. Everyone should have one of their pretty blue manuals.
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AISE

Association of Iron and Steel Engineers: “World leader in steel technology transfer. Dedicated to the advancement of technical and engineering phases of the production and processing of iron and steel. Host of Steellinks.com, steel industry search engine.”

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AISI

American Iron and Steel Institute: Publishers of the standard reference for structural steel (Beams, Columns, Construction methods and standards.
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ANSI

American National Standards Institute. Most steels have an ANSI number which if it is an SAE steel it has the same number. See UNS.

ANSI publishes (and sells) standards that apply to almost every manufacturing process in the United States. NO ANSI standard stands alone. Every standard refers to the ANSI Standard Definitions Book as well as possibly many other ANSI documents.

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ASCE

American Society of Civil Engineers. If you build a bridge the public walks on you need one of these guys approval.
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ASO

Anvil Shaped Object. Generally referring to cast iron anvils, also referred to as “doorstops” or “boat anchors”. An object not worthy of the name “anvil” and the waste of good cast iron.
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ASTM

American Society for Testing and Materials: These guys have specs and testing methods for everything applying to Science and Engineering. Their complete set of specs is encyclopedic and expensive. You can buy their individual specs over the WEB and by mail using a credit card. NOTE: Most ASTM specs read like a legal document and often say very little referring you to other ASTM specs and definitions.
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ASME

American Society of Mechanical Engineers: The ASME writes specs for things like bridges, pressure vessels – important stuff. The ASME pressure vessel code will tell you what kind of tank uses the ASTM – A203 steel so you can find a scrap one. ASME pressure vessels will have a tag on them indicating the specs they meet.
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ASM

American Society for Metals International: Researches and publishes engineering references about metals, their manufacture, fabrication and testing. Has on-line bookstore. Most other services require membership. If you are going to purchase more than one of their references the membership discount generally will offset the membership. Membership open to all at a cost. Has local chapters.
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AIA

American Institute for Architects: As of the 7th edition publishes Architectural Graphic Standards with John Wiley and Sons Publishing. Currently over $100 but a great reference for anyone
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AWS

American Welding Society: Standards for welding and welding material.
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AFLCIO

You know, the UNION! A bunch of guys wearing AFLCIO Blacksmiths Chapter hats showed up at a demo I was doing at a crafts fair. Scared the ___ out of me. Turned out to be a bunch of great guys that wanted to know what an “old fashioned” blacksmith did.
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AWMI

Association of Women in the Metal Industries
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BABA

British Artist Blacksmiths Association
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BOCA

Building Officials & Code Administrators Int., Inc.: The building code people. If you make a rail or other permanent part of a building you must meet your localities interpretation of the the code. If you don’t like them consider this, the building code is a MINIMUM spec. Quality work should be a lot better than code. NOTE: OSHA specs supercede BOCA specs in industrial environments. OSHA has their own railing requirements.
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BRT

Big Round Thing. Faux jargon used when you don’t know what something is. Also VBRT (VERY Big Round Thing), LRT (Long Round Thing), SRT (Short or Small Round Thing), and so on . . . – From a story by John Dempsey about giving a dignitary a tour of a nuclear power plant with its miles of pipes, tubes and tanks.
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CABO

Council of American Building Officials
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CF

Cold Finished, Abbreviation for cold drawn or rolled plate and bar with a clean descaled finish.
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CSA

NO, NOT the Confederate States of America, the Canadian Standards Association International. A testing organization similar to UL and who’s logo you often find beside UL’s on electrical devices.
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CO

Carbon Monoxide, an unstable compound caused by fires burning with insufficient air or under other circumstances. Too much of this in your shop will kill you. Smaller amounts are hard on your respiratory system. CO tries to become CO2 and absorbs oxygen from anything it can.
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CSI

Cyber Smiths International – Defunct anvilfire support group and international blacksmiths association
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CSI

The Construction and Specifications Institute
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CWT

Old english system of weight measurement, hundredweight, 112 pounds. Click link for more.
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EPA

Environmental Protection Agency. If you haven’t heard of these guys then you must live in a small town called OSHA. In the metalworking business it is easy to get in trouble with these guys. You need to be especially careful about purchasing old industrial real estate that just MIGHT be a legal nightmare if it is found to have hazardous wastes on it.
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Fe

Ferrum, Latin for Iron, Periodic table abbreviation.
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FTP

File Transfer Protocol. Internet file transfer method.
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HEPA

High Efficiency Particulate Air (filter). This type of filter is commonly specified in industrial applications for filtering breathing air. Often specified by OSHA relative to protecting workers in hazardous environments. As a “jargon” term it is now used to sell home vacuum cleaners.
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HR

Hot Rolled, abbreviation for hot rolled plate and bar with a “mill scale” finish.
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HSS

High Speed Steel, What all modern drill bits and steel lathe cutters are made of. Very hard to heat treat.
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ILL

Inter Library Loan. This is a system where member libraries borrow books from each other. A vast number of public, college and university libraries are on the system. It is usualy free but ocassionaly shipping charges must be paid by the borrower. Start by finding the title, author and LOC number of the book you want. Then take it to your librarian. EASY.
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ISO-9000

International Standards Organization: 9000, the new industrial standard that all products will have to meet to be sold in Europe in the near future. Part of ISO-9000 requires a local (European) presence. ISO-9000 is a common market power play attempting to protect European markets.
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JYH

Junk Yard Hammer. Includes EC-JYH (East Coast) and WC-JYH (West Coast). Coined by Jim “Paw-Paw” Wilson. Brian Rognholt named his the MW-JYH for “Mid-West” JYH. And there is the NC-JYH designed and built in North Carolina.
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KIPS

Common U.S. engineering abbreviation used primarily in the structural steel industry.
K = thousands, I = Inches, P = pounds, S = square. Thousands of pounds per square inch.
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LOC

U.S. Library of Congress. Operates the U.S. copyright system and has copies of just about everything copyrighted in the United States including forign publications registered in the U.S. It was established as a research library for congress and is open to the public. The on-line catalog system is great for all types of research.
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MIG

Metal Inert Gas: Wire fed welding, steel, S.S., aluminium wire and argon, CO2. . .
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ME

Middle English – abbreviation used in dictionaries.
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MSDS

Material Safety Data Sheet. A technical document required by U.S. law to be available to all employees handling any type of chemical or using any type of chemical product. The MSDS lists the ingrediants, any known hazards and handling precautions. See SDS
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NAAMM

National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers
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NIST

National Institute of Standards Technology: formerly the National Bureau of Standards. Maintains standards of weights and measurement, physical standards. A US Government agency looking for something to do.
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NAHB

National Association of Home Builders.
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NFPA

National Fire Protection Association. Quincy, MA, 02269, USA.
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NOMMA

National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metal Associaltion, The Fabricator
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OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (US Gov): Since most of us work alone OSHA doesn’t apply. But as soon as you hire employees look out! Ever see the OSHA cowboy riding his horse with seat belts, roll cage, training wheels and towing a porta pot? Well, the OSHA anvil would be bolted to a stand bolted to the floor residing in a heavy steel cage surrounded by a spark screen surrounded by a glare screen surrounded by a guard rail. How do you get to it? You don’t. You think I’m being absurd? Look at a new punch press with OSHA approved guards.
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OE

Old English (archaic) – abbreviation used in dictionaries.
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PCD

Part Coordination Document. This term is from the ANSI Y-14 geometric tolerancing standard.
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SAE

Society of Automotive Engineers International: Their steel specs (1018, 1020, 4140) are the most common in use and have been adopted into other specs. These are the steels Machinery’s Handbook gives an application list and heat treating specs.
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SI

Standard International ‘Units’ (the metric system): Another arbitrary measurement system no more universal than the common English system. The metric system, supposedly based on the decimal system fails to rid itself of the sexagesimal system (base 60) in measuring time and angles. The offical angular unit, the radian (PI, 3.1415. . . = 180°), is used in computer systems and languages but is not commonly used as the official system.

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SDS

Safety Data Sheet. Internationally “harmonized” document replacing the MSDS. A technical document required by U.S. law to be available to all employees handling any type of chemical or using any type of chemical product. The MSDS lists the ingrediants, any known hazards and handling precautions. See MSDS
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Si

Silicon, an element commonly found in rocks, minerals and as traces in metals. Pure crystaline silicon is the surface on which most computer chips are built.
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SS

Stainless Steel
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SSCI

Steel Service Center Institute
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STI

Steel Tank Institute
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STI

Steel Tube Institute
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TIG

Tungsten Inert Gas: Commonly known as Heli-Arc but can use other gases such a argon or CO2.
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TPI

Screws, Threads Per Inch, Saws and Cutters, Teeth Per Inch.
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TPI

Screws, Threads Per Inch, Saws and Cutters, Teeth Per Inch.
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UBC

Unified Building Code (see BOCA above). These codes are generaly adopted by various localities without change. However, some localities DO customize the standards to suit local needs (conditions or politics).
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UL

Underwriters Laboratories Inc. A private testing organization relied upon by government. If you manufacture a wood stove or other product you may have to have UL test it. This requires that you give them several samples and pay for the testing. See CSA for Canadian approvals.
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UNS

Unified Numbering System for metals combines ANSI, ASTM and SAE systems.

Misc. Materials Information. . .

Misc. “I” beams are no longer called “I” but are “S” section. Most of what we call I-beam today are Wide Flange beams which are called “H” sections. There are also “W” sections. These are AISC designations. Angle is not called “L” section and channel is not called “U”, but “Z” bars are called Z’s.

References and Links

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Glossary Blacksmithing and Metalworking terms.