A process including providing a hollow cvlindrical substrate, the substrate having a dry outer surface describing a curvilinear plane, a dry inner surface describing a curvilinear plane, a first end opposite a second end, and an imaginary axis extending from the first end to the second end, supporting the substrate, machining at least a portion of at least one end of the substrate with at least one dry polycrystalline diamond cutting tool in the absence of liquids to remove material from the substrate, and simultaneously maintaining, during machining, the dry inner surface of the cylindrical substrate free of the material machined from the at least one end of the substrate by the at least one dry polycrystalline diamond cutting tool.

An assembly suited to the lathing of cylindrical workpieces, such as photoreceptor blanks, includes a first drive system which rotates an associated workpiece about an axis of rotation. A machining tool machines a circumference of the workpiece to generate a strip of material. A cutting apparatus cuts the strip of material into sections. The cutting apparatus includes first and second rotatably mounted members which define a nip therebetween. A first of the rotatable members carries a cutting member on a peripheral surface thereof. A second drive system rotates the first and second rotatable members. The second drive system may be adjustable whereby a circumferential speed of the rotatable members can be matched to a circumferential speed of the workpiece. A transverse speed of the cutting apparatus may be matched to that of the machining tool.