Abstract A study of the literature reveals that while a considerable amount of work has been conducted on two-body abrasive wear, relatively little has been done about the equally important problem of three-body abrasive wear. A classification of the various types of three-body abrasive wear is presented. Following an examination of existing three-body abrasive wear testers and their limitations a novel tester to simulate a certain type of three-body wear has been designed. With simple modifications the tester can also simulate two-body wear. The paper describes the new tester and some preliminary results.