This report introduces the reader to the process and to the requirements which must be considered for its installation on the shop floor. Although only electro-chemical shaping is dealt with, many of the parameters investigated are fundamental to other configurations. The machining characteristics of several high strength alloys and die steels have been investigated; also of aluminium and mild steel. Electrolyte heating effects and the physical attributes of the machined surface have been considered. Electrode and workpiece shapes have been simulated for static field examinations and these followed by investigations under dynamic machining conditions.