The process of finishing metal castings by cleaning, grinding, and removing excess material; also used more generally to mean putting something in order.
The present participle of 'fettle,' derived from Old English 'fetel.' This form specifically developed as an occupational gerund in industrial metalworking contexts.
There's an entire body of 'fettling poetry' and workers' songs from industrial England—laborers wrote about fettling as poetic work, which shows how even grinding metal could be dignified craft!
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