notching

Notching is the act of creating a notch, an indentation or recess, in a material by removing material or marking for alignment. Notches serve practical purposes such as enabling joints, providing clearance, or guiding assembly. They vary in shape from rectangular to V-shaped and can be produced by hand tools or machine processes.

In woodworking and construction, notches are commonly used to join pieces of timber or other components. Types include corner notches for frames, birdsmouth notches in roofing rafters, and saddle notches in log construction. Proper notching supports fit and alignment while preserving structural strength. Precision in layout and cutting is important to avoid gaps, misalignment, or weakness.

In metalworking and sheet metal fabrication, notching refers to cutting away material to form slots, reliefs, or joinery features. Notches enable bends to occur without tearing, allow components to fit together, or create mounting features. Notching can be performed by shears, punches, laser cutting, or water jet processes, depending on material and tolerance requirements.

In electrical engineering and acoustics, a notch (as in a notch filter) is a very narrow range of frequencies that is attenuated or removed from a signal. Notch filters are used to suppress specific interference or hum, such as powerline noise, while leaving adjacent frequencies relatively unaffected. They can be implemented with analog circuitry or digitally in signal processing.

Other contexts include manufacturing and design workflows where notching is a deliberate feature of a component to facilitate assembly, fit, or function. Across disciplines, the key considerations are proper notch geometry, location, and size to balance utility with structural integrity or signal fidelity.