Niamh Mahony (asker) Jul 11, 2006:

abtuschieren Sorry, but I'm still not sure the right term has been hit on yet. Die spotting may come closest but I'm not sure about the die part in this context and wonder if spot-grinding might be better.
For what it's worth, here are a few other bits and pieces I found on the web:
Abtuschieren ink???? To acquire the flatness needed for the Mass to translate properly, a uniform flatness requirement of 0.0005 cm (0.0002 in) was needed on the Roller sides of the Mass. To accomplish this requirement, the Mass was fixed to a granite table where bluing ink was applied to one Roller surface. The surface was then hand-lapped with a 0.00038 cm (0.00015 in) flatness lapping stone until the ink was removed; thus, meeting the flatness requirement. Since new machines can achieve tighter tolerances, most hand operations of the past have become obsolete.
Auftuschierung (Lager, Oberflächen) surface contact check
Tuschierplatte blueing plate
Tuschieren maschinelles] Tuschieren; Fleckigwerden, Beflecken, Fleckenbildung; tuschieren, Flaechen einpassen; tuschieren (Flaechen verschoenern)==spotting ,die spotting; touch up, try out by blue ink; spot-grind

Anyway, thanks for your help, everyone but I think I'll just close without awarding points this time because I'm still not quite sure.

Günther Toussaint Jul 4, 2006:

Ernst (as other dictionaries) tramslate "tuschieren" with "touch up, die spot, try out by blue ink", even "blue and scrape" (http://www.ds-translations.at/glosde/t.htm), so you can pick one...