Hey Joe, Great video with plenty of important tips, HOWEVER, there is a VERY important one you missed out. That is, NEVER grind a top rake or chip breaker into the top of the blade. Because the blade is either tapered or hollow ground, as soon as you cut deeper than the grind depth, the tool will bind. That is because when you grind the tool top, the blade becomes thinner in width and will cut a narrower slot, and when it tries to cut past the grind depth, the tool being wider will jam and may break. Some other great tips for the un-initiated users out in RUclips Land are as follows :- When parting off bolts / all thread, initially only have enough blade sticking out to just get past the thread depth. When the tool is ground with a slight taper as you showed to not leave a pip on the finished part, it will want to try and follow the thread helix, causing the tool to flex sideways. Once you are cutting a smooth diameter, then extend sufficient blade to finish cutting off the part. When parting off a large diameter, say 2 inch, start off with only a short length of blade sticking out. Then as the cut gets further in gradually pull out more blade. Because the tool is at an angle in the holder, you will need to lower the tool holder height slightly to bring the cutting edge back onto center height. When parting off, try and not be too timid with the hand feed, once it starts to cut, keep the feed going at a constant rate. Hope this helps, keep up the great video’s and well done for getting over 3,000 subscribers so quickly.
Thanks Dave. The top rake is a very tedious thing to do and not for new comers for sure. You can get away with it, but you have signed a death warrant for the tool. When grinding that top rake, you can only go to the very front top edge and no further. Don't forget to grind the front first, or the tool is already doomed. The the taper starts to come into play. Its a narrow window of success. I usually keep a hand ground HSS tool bit handy when doing bolts to start my part off track. Those threads will dominate the parting tool everytime. Its amazing just how much they can flex side to side. Thanks for your input and well wishes. Always welcome.
I make my parting tools from old carbide tipped saw and dado blades. Parting tools in my price range were disappointing at best. I was sceptical at first but it works well for me. This is about the best basics video I have seen. You have a knack for teaching. There are a handful of people on youtube that are good at both machining and teaching. You are one of them. Keep it up.
Great video. I really like these types of videos. Really appreciate how you take the time to present the topic in detail and then go out to the shop and show us the process.
Joe, I am not a machinist but a hobbyist and you're right, parting operations are a nightmare; busted a cobalt blade just yesterday! Your videos are not overlong and I find that if you understand the theory you can better understand the practice. Keep it up!
Important stuff like this was never taught to me in dental school. Your videos are really helping me with all my self taught machining on my various projects. Thanks!
Parting tool performance is without a doubt the most developed " feel" you will ever have to master on a lathe. ALL of your info on tool shape and set-up is exactly correct. You have saved many less experienced machinists hours of misery at the hands of a parting tool. The most important piece of advice is NEVER to use the power cross feed. Develop the feel for the feed. You can avoid a lot of chatter problems by feeling the cut.
I used power feed with one of the carbide insert cut off tools successfully a couple of times. One of the next couple of tries I crashed. Broke the tool, ruined the part. Hand feed from now on, but it's still scary now, seems like I'm always clenching teeth when parting off.
Thanks, being self taught this was great, covered all the errors I have done so far trying to part, and hopefully saved me from new ones in the future.
Great tutorial as usual. I do a LOT of parting at work almost exclusively with 1/8" wide insert tooling, the geometry of the insert curls the chip in making it narrower than the groove which helps a bunch! Parting ALWAYS leaves a burr no matter how slight and angling the tip only makes the tool want to crawl sideways as you aptly demonstrated. What I do, on parts with a hole in them, is only drill or bore the hole .01" + the nose radius of the tool if you are boring, deeper than the part length. This leaves a very minimal burr which is easy to remove. You can then continue feeding to the center or minor diameter of the stock, rise and repeat..... Another trick, if you need to make several washers, cut multiple grooves slightly smaller than the finished ID then drill or bore the parts off they end up on your drill or boring bar with minimal burrs. I always power feed parting tools, usualy about .002 per rev in steel, gives a very consistant chip, keeping them flowing is key! PS looking forward to getting my puzzle LOL
To cut a long story short, I mat some teachers that they know their stuff in a extraordinary way, like you do, but with the difference that they can't transmit knowledge. You instead have BOTH...good on you..!!, and THANK YOU.
Mr. Joe, I really love your videos and you are a very good teacher. As I asked Keith Fenner years ago, " Please more light on the operation " I know it is a hassle but we would all like to see better detail of your explanation and demonstration. Thank you so very much. Richard
Thank's Joe,I can see you are a man dedicated to quality work.Even though I am retired and this is a hobby,I love learning.I probably retired to early at 55,I'm now 72,but still remarkably fit.I was in aviation (military)most of my life,Flt engineer up through C-5,run qualified engine mechanic.Machining fills a technical need I have yet..My work space is small and two 9 inch south bends,and one Burke mill horizontal is all I have in my arsenal.at present.I make no excuses,as I believe high quality work is up to the man.I love this work and congratulate you on sharing your knowledge.It is a fine endeavor
Joe, Just had a bad day with my insert parting blades, shattered 4 inserts in the space of an hour. So I found my one tapered HSS blade, ground as per your suggestion and finished my little project! The HSS blade worked like a champ! Thanks for your help!
One of the best lubricants after a mishap using the power feed for parting is a 1/2 pint of whisky. It will get you back in the saddle in no time. Kerosene mixed with mineral oil AKA ISO 46 is one of my go to homemade lubricants from homing stones, emery cloth, locks to cutting, parting and threading. It even kills aphids, web worms to fleas on a dog and mites on a hog. Dog needs bath after treatment. Another in depth video by Joe that went far beyond the average RUclips video on the subject. Job well done. Worth Bastrop Texas.
Joe, you rock. As someone who's been a machinist for all of 6 months, I learn more from your videos than any other resource I've found. Just wanted to say "thanks" :)
Good tip on the "run the lathe in reverse with the tool upside down to remove chatter marks". I'll have to think about the consequences of using a tool holder with the built in inclination and how to get around that. Yet another super video. This and your other videos will be good for coming generations as well. Good indeed.
Thanks Jim. If you have an inclined holder, you'll need to grind the top of the tool to get a profile that won't drag. Parting tool chatter is the devil. Its tough to eliminate once it starts. That tip does work.Good luck.
Joe, I had quit using my parting tools altogether. I just couldn't get it right. I saw you video and took notes and now..no problem! I still can't get over how smooth it works! I originally got to your videos by accident while researching threading. I formerly had a gunsmith business and for years stayed puckered up when threading to a precise shoulder I had just meticulously created where the barrel and action mated. Since learning your reverse threading procedure it is super simple. So logical, wonder why I never heard of it before. Now I try to watch all you videos for the shear entertainment and knowing I will pick up some tip. You are unselfish with your knowledge and it is appreciated! God Bless!
Joe, Realy!!, i realy want to thank you for this goldmine of knowledge transfer, im a 52 year old industrial mechanic and have done years of occassional machining and all my tips and tricks were given to me by masters of machine shops like you, no school is better than having on hands advice, i have a full machining course and a college degree in mechanical engineering and not ounce in school i received critical detailed good advice or suggestions that you and other top machinists ive worked with gave me, Realy THANKS! Joe
I get a great deal of satisfaction training apprentices and streamlining processes. Failure analysis and scrap reductions are some of my favorites. I am glad these videos are hitting home. I agree, the book is good, but hang out with the guy that hits the clock at 6am everyday if you want a real education. Thank you very much for your positive and flattering feedback. Regards from Austin TX
Thank you for your tips. Thoughtful and educational. I too have had some parting tool nightmares. Couple comments though. For an older lathe, one with wear, I have had much better success with the parting tool 1/64 to 1/32 above center. Anything less causes the parting tool to be drawn into the work due to excessive backlash in the top slide for cross slide. I too like the truncated triangular HSS parting too. Chatter is significantly reduced or eliminated by grinding a "u" into the front of the parting tool. Chatter seems proportional to the width of the parting tool. The "u" grind gets the job done especially on ductile Iron or stainless. I expect a V grind would be better but my diamond wheel does not have sharp edges anymore! Top rake or clearance, I've had better success with 5°. Front rake, yes 12° seems good. I also put a India stone to the cutting edge, prefer a rounded cutting edge as opposed to sharp. My go to engine lathe: clausing Colechester 13x36. I've got two, vintage 1956, and 1968. Again really appreciate the effort knowledge and experience you provide.
It's a joy watching your work, your ability to explain is sublime. I wish teachers of this watch you and get some tips of how to do it properly. Thanks for all the work you put in to all these videos.
Thanks for all the pointers on the parting tool. It has always been the worst tool for me to use on the lathe. I have had a few failures and have been using the saw since the last one. But after your pointers I parted off a 1.25 steel slug with zero issues. Thanks Keep up the good work.
Joe, fantastic video. You are a very good machinist but your best quality is your ability to communicate. You are amazing. Parting has been a challenge for me but I came up with a method that works every time without fail (with power feed). In my opinion (and I suspect you will agree) the very biggest reason for failures while parting tool movement. When something isn't solid you get chatter and sometimes it grabs bad enough to break the blade etc. The reason an upside down tool helps is that if something moves it climbs out of the cut rather than into the cut. When you cut from the front the amount of back rake can amplify the problem. A negative back rake will be much less likely to dig into the work but does not cut very well. I have small old lathes with screw on chucks that are not very solid but what I came up with is nearly fool proof. Oh... and I used the same blade profile you do, absolutely the best! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks! ruclips.net/video/HGAQHjzgs9c/видео.html
You BOTH are great. Since I have subscribed to your channels I have learned so much. We need people like you. Thanks and should you come to Florence let me know, I will show you my city and offer you a REAL Italian coffe. Take care and stay save
Hi Joe At 83 I'm probably your youngest fan!!! Seriously, you are my guru in all things lathe, and I hae learned a lot from every one of your videos. You've turned me into a fair sort of lathe worker and I cannot thank you enough. May you outlive a lot of lathes!
learning doesn't get better than this, especially since the hard chair bottom is now a sofa, but seriously, Mr. Pieczynski, what a great resource you're providing. Thanks! I have two small lathes and a mini mill, and increasingly need them for the precision they bring.
Hi Joe, a very in depth tutorial, I find using a DTI to square up the parting tool , which is much more accurate and easier.I agree that your preferred blade is the best and yes they usually have a cobalt content they are made in the uk by JJ Churchill and I believe Somma tools in the US. Thanks.
Thank you Joe, I immediately went out to the shop and re-did my parting tool per your instructions. My parting tools and work have never been good. It works like a charm. Thank you!
Another video with great information!!! The one thing I learned the hard was is if you plunge the parting tool in too quickly the tip will break off in the up direction with the tip going strait up past your face. Luckily it missed. Chris
1/4" wide tool, 3" diameter aluminum, 4500 RPM. rapid feed in. BOOOOOOM. That was day 1. The tool flew past my head and stuck in a sheetrock wall 15 feet away like a commando dagger. HSS steel doesn't mean high RPM. My bad.
Hi Joe, I enjoy your videos since you explain everything so well (I'll be subscribing). I've been a toolmaker for most of my 45 years working, and soon to retire (I hope!). An easy way I've come up with for squaring the tool to the work, assuming an ALORIS tool post is used like you have, is I'll extend the tailstock quill enough to bring the front of the ALORIS post in contact with the quill and tighten it there. The Aloris posts are square and can easily be set this way. I also use this technique when setting the thread chasing tools and won't bother with a thread gauge.Regards, Steve
I do the same thing. I also have one tool holder I dedicated to threading. The inner wall of the tool holder is ground true to the block once the block is true to the lathe. Its a good quick technique. Thanks for your subscription. Much appreciated.
Hi Joe in uk. After getting small lathe few months ago have found your videos brilliant. You are a great teacher. You are bit of fun not to serious but safety conscious always. Your drawings on board with commentary then practical on machine really cover things. My point is that when using my machine your experience and showing processes do really help and stick in your head lol👍😃 thanks. Nigel
Thank you Joe, for the great videos. I heard you apologize in a previous video about sharing info that someone else has previously shared. DO NOT worry about that! Whatsoever!! Teach what you think people need to learn, never mind anyone else. Love your great vids Cheers
I almost always power feed when parting, especially with stainless steel (which is mostly what I work with). The critical thing to get just right is the feed rate. Too fast doesn't end well as you would expect but too slow and the tool can not sustain a steady chip and can work harden the stainless. As always, keep it wet. Thanks for you tips you provide as there is always someone that knows something that we can all learn from.
Thanks for sharing all your expertise and experience. As an amateur with no formal shop training watching your videos has helped me to become pretty competent at basic lathe operations. I really like the upside tool and running in reverse for threading. When I first got my lathe and didn't really know anything I crashed it a sheared the aluminum pin driving the lead screw. Last week I was trying to part off a 2.5" round of hot rolled steel with a cheap tool. I suspect that I must have been slightly below centre. Anyway it was almost through but the blade caught up and literally exploded sending shrapnel rocketing 25 feet across my garage hitting the opposite wall. I'm glad I was standing to one side as I always do or I could have been badly hurt. This excellent and thorough video could well save lives!
My first parting experience was a bad one. I knew nothing and pretended I did. The 1/4 wide tool ended up about 15 feet behind me buried in a sheet rock wall like a dagger after the explosion. I have had guarded feelings ever since. I hope this does help. Thanks for the comment.
best metal working videos I've seen anywhere on the web Joe!.. and I knew about a minute and a half into the first one I watched. thanks for posting them!
I could tell Joe! not a "know it all" here, but always know what I'm looking at, haha... I've actually had several good instructors over the years, first in my general machining program and then a few years later in my automotive machinist program
I have a small shop where i do a little bit of everything . And can't remember how many times I wished I had a lathe an a mill so I could make the part I needed. I have just gotten myself a lathe an mill and I'm so glad I found your channel. I appreciate you taking the time to explain everything in such detail . I have learned a lot. Again thanks.
Great presentation. I know the danger of using the tail center for support, but I use it to advantage until I get near the end of the cut. I also frequently back out the tool to widen the slot in case it is not set absolutely square to the work.
I started watching your various videos and have learned a lot, although I have been machining for over 30 years, these are basics that every wannabe machinist should know if they are to be successful at machining.
I have had an old lathe for only few weeks now... - You have teached me a LOT of with your videos. Must be a worth of several months or even year in vocational school. Thank you very much and looking forward for Your 2020 videos!
Great vid! I've been trying to get my HSS parting blade to work efficiently without shattering for around 5 years; half an hout watching this vid & no more issues, cuts great every time; Thanks Joe
Hi Joe, This is well explained by taking all the elements separately and describing every variations and effects. There is a thing that affects the performance of those tools is the rigidity of the machine itself, small lathe owners are finding it much more difficult than us with the sturdier machines, trying to part stainless on a little Atlas is something else, this is where small kerf blades will save the day... ;) I must have had excellent teachers cause parting blades never scared me, meaning that I got no more mishaps with those than with any other tools. Cheers, Pierre
Good video, very clear! Here you can get carbide inserts for parting off. GTN-L, GTN-N and GTN-R. Left right and neutral depending were you want the pip to be. Fabricator is SECO but also available in other brands. This is if you do not like grinding the little tips yourself.
Hey Joe, Thanks for video. You explained parting very well and I as a beginner learned a lot. I just do this as a hobby on a 7x12 mini lathe, but have see all the points you pointed out. Thanks for the insight. Dave
Will be buying my first lathe and mill (hobby size) for my home shop soon and just want to send a big thanks for all your vids I have seen so far and I'm learning lots. Thanks Joe
Frank Hoose ruclips.net/video/UNfUI9uo4L0/видео.html Or mrpete222 has good vids on older lathes. Here is another smaller one that I would love to have. ruclips.net/video/ypMOts-EWbU/видео.html
When my old man had to make a bunch of washers/spacers,he would plunge in almost to the diameter of the bore,then make a finish pass on the bore,and the parts would 'plink'.... end up on the bar. Try it
Personally, I never just throw the auto feed on a part off, however I will manually start the feed by hand and *IF* everything is going hunky dory AND I know my feed rate is set correctly I’ll reach down and throw that auto feed in. But mostly on larger diameter parts that take a little longer to part. But honestly in most situations it is just a quick operation that doesn’t require the auto feed. Furthermore using auto feed incorrectly leads to the majority of problems for most people. Anyways, Joe you are awesome man. The details and extent you go through to make operations clear and understandable is so impressive. Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge and experience. You are a better man than I. Your level of patience is incredible. It takes an extraordinary amount of time, patience, knowledge, and experience to make these videos. I truly appreciate your investment. Happy machining Joe. Hats off to you brother.
Thanks Joe,you are a true proffesional,it's funny how alot of these guys think they have a better way of doing,it's all about hands on,and we know they don't have true hands on experience,thanks again joe
Joe, after adjust my cross slide and compound to make my mini lathe rigid I was fallow your recommendation, and finally I was able to cut 1 inch of 6061 without chattering and tool filling. Thank you again! Before, parting was stressful!
I bought my first lathe 2 weeks ago, an old South Bend 9" clone. Trying to teach myself some lathe work, I have a few projects I need it for. I had real trouble parting of bits, my tool (new "bought" parting tool) kept wandering off to the left. After seeing this video I figured out the the tool wasn't sitting exactly straight or didn't have the right angle to begin with. The tool post isn't exactly mint.... But a small touch of on the grinder and the tool now goes straight! Thank you! I like the white board explanations, it gives me "aha moments". :)
Parting has always been a love/ hate thing for me. I love doing it, but like you said- that sound when it goes wrong. I have successfully powerfed the tool, in the neighborhood of 200-250 rpm and .002 per rev, but I don't make a habit of it. Everything has got to be PERFECT for it to go well. Anyway, I learned a few more things from this video, thanks again.
Again thank you. Every time I get stuck on the lathe with something that I don't get I wind up back here, spend 30 minutes learning and moving. This time it was parting last time it was using microdrills. See ya next time for a new solution ;-)
Thanks Joe. Exactly what I require. Can't. Wait to get to the garage tomorrow and put your ideas to work. Many thanks. You have an excellent site and are a very good instructor. I am 76 and learning machining as a hobby and to support my wife's small business tooling requirements. Your videos and my machinist handbook answer my questions. Well done.
I really enjoy your videos, very informative and easy to understand. I read through many of the comments and didn't see anyone's comment identifying the bit type. I believe the type you were describing is a "T" type profile.
Well, I watched the video more than once - so much information and it all made sense and it was logically explained. I bought a new parting blade (HSS with a bit of cobalt) and used a continuous lubricant run. I did the things you said - my stress levels when parting are 221 times lower than before!! Your information is helping me so much. Thankyou. Mal
I use a .095" Tantung parting tool and I always run a flat top, with no rake. I power feed when parting, doing as many as 100 parting cuts in 4140 steel per batch. I never have any problems. Tantung is amazing, so much better than HSS or even carbide. I had to build my own holder. The tool blanks were surplus screw machine tooling and commercial holders were not available. It makes parting a breeze!! Try it if you get the chance.
Joe, Thanks for all the great info on parting tools. My first experience with parting tools were bad news. I was using cheap chinese HSS tools with no idea how to set them. I was able to finally get decent results with the HHS, but always had to hand feed. I later bought an ISCAR DGTR 1212-3 tool, with both left and right hand inserts.(not cheap). I can power feed this tool with great results. I highly recommend this parting tool.
Joe - thanks for the tips - just starting on the lathe and had no luck parting - Going to try your suggestions and see how it goes. Well presented, clear and logical.
The deep focus on detail, scenarios, and sharing of past errors made this content-rich and a good learning experience. And we like you too, which is a bonus!
Thanks for the video Joe, they are always very educational. I use a parting blade on an Aloris holder that is shaped like the one you are using but has avery narrow v-grove chip breaker in the middle of the blade. Works better than any I have ever owned. I also find it easy to set the quick chg. tool block with a machinist square referencing the tailstock barrel.
Thanks, I use the talistock barrel as well. I skip the square though. I make direct contact and check it after I tighten it again. Good reference surface.
I'm always amazed at how eloquent you deliver your experience, for such an amateur as myself! Just toasted 2 hrs of lathe work to a bad parting job: now I see why! Thanks for the fabulous and helpful advice:))
Thanks for the great tutorial ….used this today and parted off 4 identical parts and countersink the end of each ….without taking the material out of the chuck ….. I’m starting to think about things more …previously would have done 1 at a time
Hi Joe. I'm now using a KT3.2 Tanjential brazed carbide tool.. I made the toolholder myself and adjust the rake with a wedge below it. Goes very well and feeds fast.
Just wanted to throw a big appreciation your way. I'm about 2 months into using my first lathe and the info on your videos and a couple other guys on youtube have been a huge help in making some successful parts on the first go round without any tool damage. The detail is great. Thanks, keep up the excellent videos.
Buy nice or buy twice - I love it! My motto also, I've been there done that - bought nasty, got nasty! I have tools over 30 years old and still work fine because I bought quality. Note: when you do a clean out, the old idiom:if you haven't used it in 6 months, throw it out" this does not include tools! I will qualify this: if you know you won't use (because you bought newer/better/etc, then give it to someone who can use it, or 'pass it round' through Joe or Adam or the various Keith's (and others) out there - they will greatly appreciate it!
Thanks Joe, I am finding your videos helpful and practical. My shop is mostly for super-dense hardwoods, so I use metal tools for the precision. I do cut a lot of delrin and have to clean-up casts of silver and bronze. My main parting tool is the most el-cheapo chinese thing. I use it for delrin, it's hopeless on metal. One thing I DO like about it is that it has a taper from the tip to the body such that the perpendicular alignment is a bit more forgiving. That way I get a little more latitude when adjusting the leading-edge bias. The nemesis of parting hardwood is the grain - most saws and parting tools will chip-out the OD or ID on a wooden part - usually ruining it. Unlike metal, wood has grain. Woodgrain is never perfectly straight and the last thou of the cut can ask the grain to go splitting-off wherever it wants - specially with cuttoff operations. So, for anyone who is parting wooden cylinders - the way to avoid the chipping is to have the tool speed extremely high .. you can't do that with RPM of the lathe - the wood will fly-apart, so I mount a high-speed Dremel kinda thing into the toolpost with a circular saw rotating the opposite of the lathe-spin. The reason this works is because you have to overcome the weakness of grain by leveraging the inertia of the actual grains themselves. Woodgrains are about 4 microns, so to get the inertia in that tiny thing, you got to have extreme impact-speed from the tool to break the grain without the grain-cleavage getting involved. It works in all other ways as you have described Joe - the rotary saw-blade acts exactly like a high-speed parting tool - and the alignments are critical. I know this is wood, not metal, but please consider: Lignum Vitae (the second-hardest wood) was used for bearings on submarine prop-shafts. And wood blunts tools faster than steel does - because wood has a lot of silicon in it .. and I have seen it produce sparks off of the tools in some cases. Anyway - thanks! Subscribed.
Since buying my lathe around 4 years ago, I've struggled with my HSS parting blade catching, chipping &, sometimes, even BREAKING the blade; I average a 4" blade a year. Since watching this vid (my first because of this issue) I reconfigured my setup & now get perfect results 95% of the time. Thanks Joe
I was a welder, the boss found out that I had some experience on a lathe, he put me on an old worn out 12" lathe and brought me a keg about 2 ft. tall full of 1 1/2 " by 12tpi nuts and told me to part them into 2 thin nuts, without any advice or instructions. I broke a lot of parting tools and tried every angle I could think of on the tool and finally got the job done. this was about 50yrs ago and I still don't like parting tools but Joe your video's are first rate and I appreciate all of them.
Hi Joe.. I love your tutorium shows, there are the best of the best. I am ferly new on machining as I learned that little I know pinching it from lathe to lathe on my workplaces, as I am a qualified Boilermaker / and a professional welder , study metallurgy and have a passion for it...(have to understand metals at first in order to weld them), and always working with fitters and machinist, That they have been through in my life time , but always had passion for engines and motorcars ..learning to rebuild engine, gear boxes all the way to differentials, which I regard them as the hardest thing to do where fingertip feeling is the most important thing...Saying that...I just turned 65 years old and now with the ambition to learn as much as I can...lathe machining, and hope in later days if I still be around....even Milling machines..... as I wrote earlier....developed over the years. I have interest for lathe working, and finally I was able to by one.. AL- 960B.
The al-960 is a good little lathe, I know a guy that runs a business machining fire safety valves for a living and thats all he uses to run his business, so you’ve made a decent purchase. Joe is a good teacher for beginners, he has a lot of knowledge, but he goes way to slow for me. I try to watch all of his videos, but most of them I watch at 2x speed, or just skip right through most of it. As you are beginning, I highly recommend you watch the whole video, sometimes twice. Until you have the experience, watch and learn from people who do.
I ex'd nearly all of those boxes today, and it was the heartache brought me here . . After braking 7 carbide tips, I noticed my tool post was flexing, so I reverted back to my heritage . . . and whipped it off with the grinder. Thanks for the education Joe! I think I'll invest in a proper parting tool.
Some times such as on a couple of large bronze bushing I made recently (9"ID) I like to use a boring bar with tool steel ground to a 45 to chamfer the back or Left side of the bushing ID before I part it off, also leaves almost no burr parting into the inside chamfer. Really enjoying your videos!
This was a great video, in a food manufacturing maintenance team almost everything we make is SS which can often present problems will parting off, very similar to your story of miss use or lack of experience of a parting tool, power feeding 5" plastic at somewhere around 700 RPMs I wasn't catching the parts and had 1 land on cross slide and get hit but the extending jaws sending it flying at god knows how quick, lesson learnt reduced rims and catch everything
Joe You have taught me three valuable lessons in machining out of the 4 video's I've watched of yours so far, as for this video the way you showed the angles & rake of a parting tool made me realise it's a lot like cutters on a Chainsaws Chain which I've collected now for 30 some odd years ! What an Amazing Teacher - Proud to be a Subscriber !!
How about " if you got chatter, somethings the matter" and my favorite...'When the chip exceeds the grip, the part is going to slip' Both are very true. Thanks for commenting.
I missed this one when it was first published. Must have been out on the road at that time. The biggest improvement to my parting occurred when I checked and adjusted the big bearing on the headstock. I adjusted it from .006 "lift" to .002, and 98% of the parting problems I was having went away. Of course the results of standard turning improved as well. The rest, that is not related to the nuances of setting the tool up properly, is caused by a lantern tool post that needs retirement. I'm working on a solution to that at the moment. In short, those that are running older machines need to make sure that they are in adjustment. A few thou loose will allow the work to climb the tool, changing the center and allows the spindle to rattle around, causing chatter.
Hey Joe, Great video with plenty of important tips, HOWEVER, there is a VERY important one you missed out. That is, NEVER grind a top rake or chip breaker into the top of the blade. Because the blade is either tapered or hollow ground, as soon as you cut deeper than the grind depth, the tool will bind. That is because when you grind the tool top, the blade becomes thinner in width and will cut a narrower slot, and when it tries to cut past the grind depth, the tool being wider will jam and may break.
Some other great tips for the un-initiated users out in RUclips Land are as follows :-
When parting off bolts / all thread, initially only have enough blade sticking out to just get past the thread depth. When the tool is ground with a slight taper as you showed to not leave a pip on the finished part, it will want to try and follow the thread helix, causing the tool to flex sideways. Once you are cutting a smooth diameter, then extend sufficient blade to finish cutting off the part.
When parting off a large diameter, say 2 inch, start off with only a short length of blade sticking out. Then as the cut gets further in gradually pull out more blade. Because the tool is at an angle in the holder, you will need to lower the tool holder height slightly to bring the cutting edge back onto center height.
When parting off, try and not be too timid with the hand feed, once it starts to cut, keep the feed going at a constant rate.
Hope this helps, keep up the great video’s and well done for getting over 3,000 subscribers so quickly.
Thanks Dave. The top rake is a very tedious thing to do and not for new comers for sure. You can get away with it, but you have signed a death warrant for the tool. When grinding that top rake, you can only go to the very front top edge and no further. Don't forget to grind the front first, or the tool is already doomed. The the taper starts to come into play. Its a narrow window of success. I usually keep a hand ground HSS tool bit handy when doing bolts to start my part off track. Those threads will dominate the parting tool everytime. Its amazing just how much they can flex side to side. Thanks for your input and well wishes. Always welcome.
Chatter recovery, running in reverse!! Crazy, brilliant. Always worth watching your work, thanks for sharing your hard won experience.
Its a creative setup to do that, but it works.
What sets you apart from all the rest is the excellent "why" in addition to how. Thank you
Thanks. I think it helps.
I make my parting tools from old carbide tipped saw and dado blades. Parting tools in my price range were disappointing at best. I was sceptical at first but it works well for me. This is about the best basics video I have seen. You have a knack for teaching. There are a handful of people on youtube that are good at both machining and teaching. You are one of them. Keep it up.
Great video. I really like these types of videos. Really appreciate how you take the time to present the topic in detail and then go out to the shop and show us the process.
Some of us like the board, and some of us gotta see it done. I like knowing why something works.
Joe, I am not a machinist but a hobbyist and you're right, parting operations are a nightmare; busted a cobalt blade just yesterday! Your videos are not overlong and I find that if you understand the theory you can better understand the practice. Keep it up!
Important stuff like this was never taught to me in dental school. Your videos are really helping me with all my self taught machining on my various projects. Thanks!
Thanks for watching.
Parting tool performance is without a doubt the most developed " feel" you will ever have to master on a lathe. ALL of your info on tool shape and set-up is exactly correct. You have saved many less experienced machinists hours of misery at the hands of a parting tool. The most important piece of advice is NEVER to use the power cross feed. Develop the feel for the feed. You can avoid a lot of chatter problems by feeling the cut.
"The Feel" is so important. Good comment. I also never use power feed for parting, but some guys swear by it. I'm not one of them.
I used power feed with one of the carbide insert cut off tools successfully a couple of times. One of the next couple of tries I crashed. Broke the tool, ruined the part. Hand feed from now on, but it's still scary now, seems like I'm always clenching teeth when parting off.
Thanks, being self taught this was great, covered all the errors I have done so far trying to part, and hopefully saved me from new ones in the future.
Buy a good tool and keep the grind mild. you're half way home.
Sometimes the simplest operations get overlooked.Thanks, for taking the time to explain. :) Fred, UK
Thanks for watching Fred.
Great tutorial as usual.
I do a LOT of parting at work almost exclusively with 1/8" wide insert tooling, the geometry of the insert curls the chip in making it narrower than the groove which helps a bunch!
Parting ALWAYS leaves a burr no matter how slight and angling the tip only makes the tool want to crawl sideways as you aptly demonstrated.
What I do, on parts with a hole in them, is only drill or bore the hole .01" + the nose radius of the tool if you are boring, deeper than the part length.
This leaves a very minimal burr which is easy to remove.
You can then continue feeding to the center or minor diameter of the stock, rise and repeat.....
Another trick, if you need to make several washers, cut multiple grooves slightly smaller than the finished ID then drill or bore the parts off they end up on your drill or boring bar with minimal burrs.
I always power feed parting tools, usualy about .002 per rev in steel, gives a very consistant chip, keeping them flowing is key!
PS looking forward to getting my puzzle LOL
Check the tracking number. Its on the way.
You offered good tips! Constant feed is very important. I have done the drill trick too.
To cut a long story short, I mat some teachers that they know their stuff in a extraordinary way, like you do, but with the difference that they can't transmit knowledge. You instead have BOTH...good on you..!!, and THANK YOU.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Joe, I really love your videos and you are a very good teacher. As I asked Keith Fenner years ago, " Please more light on the operation " I know it is a hassle but we would all like to see better detail of your explanation and demonstration. Thank you so very much.
Richard
Thanks for watching Richard.
Thank's Joe,I can see you are a man dedicated to quality work.Even though I am retired and this is a hobby,I love learning.I probably retired to early at 55,I'm now 72,but still remarkably fit.I was in aviation (military)most of my life,Flt engineer up through C-5,run qualified engine mechanic.Machining fills a technical need I have yet..My work space is small and two 9 inch south bends,and one Burke mill horizontal is all I have in my arsenal.at present.I make no excuses,as I believe high quality work is up to the man.I love this work and congratulate you on sharing your knowledge.It is a fine endeavor
Joe, Just had a bad day with my insert parting blades, shattered 4 inserts in the space of an hour. So I found my one tapered HSS blade, ground as per your suggestion and finished my little project! The HSS blade worked like a champ! Thanks for your help!
One of the best lubricants after a mishap using the power feed for parting is a 1/2 pint of whisky.
It will get you back in the saddle in no time.
Kerosene mixed with mineral oil AKA ISO 46 is one of my go to homemade lubricants from homing stones, emery cloth, locks to cutting, parting and threading.
It even kills aphids, web worms to fleas on a dog and mites on a hog.
Dog needs bath after treatment.
Another in depth video by Joe that went far beyond the average RUclips video on the subject.
Job well done.
Worth Bastrop Texas.
Thanks for the laugh!!!!
I was on a plane that blew an engine on takeoff last friday in Ft lauderdale fla. Whiskey cures many ills.
Joe, you rock. As someone who's been a machinist for all of 6 months, I learn more from your videos than any other resource I've found. Just wanted to say "thanks" :)
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
Good tip on the "run the lathe in reverse with the tool upside down to remove chatter marks". I'll have to think about the consequences of using a tool holder with the built in inclination and how to get around that. Yet another super video. This and your other videos will be good for coming generations as well. Good indeed.
Thanks Jim. If you have an inclined holder, you'll need to grind the top of the tool to get a profile that won't drag. Parting tool chatter is the devil. Its tough to eliminate once it starts. That tip does work.Good luck.
Joe, I had quit using my parting tools altogether. I just couldn't get it right. I saw you video and took notes and now..no problem! I still can't get over how smooth it works! I originally got to your videos by accident while researching threading. I formerly had a gunsmith business and for years stayed puckered up when threading to a precise shoulder I had just meticulously created where the barrel and action mated. Since learning your reverse threading procedure it is super simple. So logical, wonder why I never heard of it before. Now I try to watch all you videos for the shear entertainment and knowing I will pick up some tip. You are unselfish with your knowledge and it is appreciated! God Bless!
Joe, Realy!!, i realy want to thank you for this goldmine of knowledge transfer, im a 52 year old industrial mechanic and have done years of occassional machining and all my tips and tricks were given to me by masters of machine shops like you, no school is better than having on hands advice, i have a full machining course and a college degree in mechanical engineering and not ounce in school i received critical detailed good advice or suggestions that you and other top machinists ive worked with gave me, Realy THANKS! Joe
I get a great deal of satisfaction training apprentices and streamlining processes. Failure analysis and scrap reductions are some of my favorites. I am glad these videos are hitting home. I agree, the book is good, but hang out with the guy that hits the clock at 6am everyday if you want a real education. Thank you very much for your positive and flattering feedback. Regards from Austin TX
Thank you for your tips. Thoughtful and educational. I too have had some parting tool nightmares. Couple comments though. For an older lathe, one with wear, I have had much better success with the parting tool 1/64 to 1/32 above center. Anything less causes the parting tool to be drawn into the work due to excessive backlash in the top slide for cross slide. I too like the truncated triangular HSS parting too. Chatter is significantly reduced or eliminated by grinding a "u" into the front of the parting tool. Chatter seems proportional to the width of the parting tool. The "u" grind gets the job done especially on ductile Iron or stainless. I expect a V grind would be better but my diamond wheel does not have sharp edges anymore! Top rake or clearance, I've had better success with 5°. Front rake, yes 12° seems good. I also put a India stone to the cutting edge, prefer a rounded cutting edge as opposed to sharp. My go to engine lathe: clausing Colechester 13x36. I've got two, vintage 1956, and 1968. Again really appreciate the effort knowledge and experience you provide.
It's a joy watching your work, your ability to explain is sublime. I wish teachers of this watch you and get some tips of how to do it properly. Thanks for all the work you put in to all these videos.
Thank you very much.
Thanks for all the pointers on the parting tool. It has always been the worst tool for me to use on the lathe. I have had a few failures and have been using the saw since the last one. But after your pointers I parted off a 1.25 steel slug with zero issues. Thanks
Keep up the good work.
All situations can be different, but parting tools like to cut. Moderate RPM and constant pressure usually yield goo results. Thanks for watching.
Joe, fantastic video. You are a very good machinist but your best quality is your ability to communicate. You are amazing. Parting has been a challenge for me but I came up with a method that works every time without fail (with power feed). In my opinion (and I suspect you will agree) the very biggest reason for failures while parting tool movement. When something isn't solid you get chatter and sometimes it grabs bad enough to break the blade etc. The reason an upside down tool helps is that if something moves it climbs out of the cut rather than into the cut. When you cut from the front the amount of back rake can amplify the problem. A negative back rake will be much less likely to dig into the work but does not cut very well. I have small old lathes with screw on chucks that are not very solid but what I came up with is nearly fool proof. Oh... and I used the same blade profile you do, absolutely the best! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks! ruclips.net/video/HGAQHjzgs9c/видео.html
You BOTH are great. Since I have subscribed to your channels I have learned so much. We need people like you. Thanks and should you come to Florence let me know, I will show you my city and offer you a REAL Italian coffe. Take care and stay save
Hi Joe At 83 I'm probably your youngest fan!!! Seriously, you are my guru in all things lathe, and I hae learned a lot from every one of your videos. You've turned me into a fair sort of lathe worker and I cannot thank you enough. May you outlive a lot of lathes!
Thank you. I hope I still get messages from you when I do!
learning doesn't get better than this, especially since the hard chair bottom is now a sofa, but seriously, Mr. Pieczynski, what a great resource you're providing. Thanks! I have two small lathes and a mini mill, and increasingly need them for the precision they bring.
Thanks for watching.
Hi Joe, a very in depth tutorial, I find using a DTI to square up the parting tool , which is much more accurate and easier.I agree that your preferred blade is the best and yes they usually have a cobalt content they are made in the uk by JJ Churchill and I believe Somma tools in the US. Thanks.
I have to get some more. Great cutoff tool.
Sounds much simpler now the basics have been explained thanks for answering so many questions Brisbane Oz
Make sure you buy a good tool. Thanks for watching.
Thank you Joe, I immediately went out to the shop and re-did my parting tool per your instructions. My parting tools and work have never been good. It works like a charm. Thank you!
Glad it helped.
Every one of your videos teaches me at least one thing. I am so please to have found you on You Tube.
Another video with great information!!! The one thing I learned the hard was is if you plunge the parting tool in too quickly the tip will break off in the up direction with the tip going strait up past your face. Luckily it missed. Chris
1/4" wide tool, 3" diameter aluminum, 4500 RPM. rapid feed in. BOOOOOOM. That was day 1. The tool flew past my head and stuck in a sheetrock wall 15 feet away like a commando dagger. HSS steel doesn't mean high RPM. My bad.
Hi Joe, I enjoy your videos since you explain everything so well (I'll be subscribing). I've been a toolmaker for most of my 45 years working, and soon to retire (I hope!). An easy way I've come up with for squaring the tool to the work, assuming an ALORIS tool post is used like you have, is I'll extend the tailstock quill enough to bring the front of the ALORIS post in contact with the quill and tighten it there. The Aloris posts are square and can easily be set this way. I also use this technique when setting the thread chasing tools and won't bother with a thread gauge.Regards, Steve
I do the same thing. I also have one tool holder I dedicated to threading. The inner wall of the tool holder is ground true to the block once the block is true to the lathe. Its a good quick technique. Thanks for your subscription. Much appreciated.
Hi Joe
in uk. After getting small lathe few months ago have found your videos brilliant. You are a great teacher. You are bit of fun not to serious but safety conscious always. Your drawings on board with commentary then practical on machine really cover things.
My point is that when using my machine your
experience and showing processes do really help and stick in your head lol👍😃
thanks. Nigel
Thanks Nigel. Thats good to hear.
Thank you Joe, for the great videos. I heard you apologize in a previous video about sharing info that someone else has previously shared. DO NOT worry about that! Whatsoever!! Teach what you think people need to learn, never mind anyone else. Love your great vids
Cheers
Great vids Joe, love your direct, no nonsense style. Best wishes from the UK.
Thank you Doug.
I almost always power feed when parting, especially with stainless steel (which is mostly what I work with). The critical thing to get just right is the feed rate. Too fast doesn't end well as you would expect but too slow and the tool can not sustain a steady chip and can work harden the stainless. As always, keep it wet.
Thanks for you tips you provide as there is always someone that knows something that we can all learn from.
Thanks for sharing all your expertise and experience. As an amateur with no formal shop training watching your videos has helped me to become pretty competent at basic lathe operations. I really like the upside tool and running in reverse for threading. When I first got my lathe and didn't really know anything I crashed it a sheared the aluminum pin driving the lead screw.
Last week I was trying to part off a 2.5" round of hot rolled steel with a cheap tool. I suspect that I must have been slightly below centre. Anyway it was almost through but the blade caught up and literally exploded sending shrapnel rocketing 25 feet across my garage hitting the opposite wall. I'm glad I was standing to one side as I always do or I could have been badly hurt. This excellent and thorough video could well save lives!
My first parting experience was a bad one. I knew nothing and pretended I did. The 1/4 wide tool ended up about 15 feet behind me buried in a sheet rock wall like a dagger after the explosion. I have had guarded feelings ever since. I hope this does help. Thanks for the comment.
Lots of great information here. I've had plenty of problems with this operation and your video will help a lot.
Keep a constant pressure on the tool and reduce the RPM. You should have better results.
best metal working videos I've seen anywhere on the web Joe!.. and I knew about a minute and a half into the first one I watched. thanks for posting them!
Thanks Guy. Been at it for a long time.
I could tell Joe! not a "know it all" here, but always know what I'm looking at, haha... I've actually had several good instructors over the years, first in my general machining program and then a few years later in my automotive machinist program
Great format for learning. Thanks for taking the time to make videos. 👍
I enjoy it Billy. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
I have a small shop where i do a little bit of everything . And can't remember how many times I wished I had a lathe an a mill so I could make the part I needed. I have just gotten myself a lathe an mill and I'm so glad I found your channel. I appreciate you taking the time to explain everything in such detail . I have learned a lot. Again thanks.
Thanks Joe,
I parted without having to clean up the part today! Happy 4Th!
Great presentation. I know the danger of using the tail center for support, but I use it to advantage until I get near the end of the cut.
I also frequently back out the tool to widen the slot in case it is not set absolutely square to the work.
The tool will let you know if its not happy. You just have to listen.
I started watching your various videos and have learned a lot, although I have been machining for over 30 years, these are basics that every wannabe machinist should know if they are to be successful at machining.
I have had an old lathe for only few weeks now... - You have teached me a LOT of with your videos. Must be a worth of several months or even year in vocational school. Thank you very much and looking forward for Your 2020 videos!
Pretty good primer on parting, I'm sure it will become a standard, a must watch for beginners
.
Thank you.
Great vid! I've been trying to get my HSS parting blade to work efficiently without shattering for around 5 years; half an hout watching this vid & no more issues, cuts great every time; Thanks Joe
One of the best knowledge shop people, Very experience and to the point, theorist and practical.
Thank you very much.
Nice demo. The only comment I would add is: Keep the parting tool cutting. Tool pressure is your friend here.
100% agree.
Joe, I simply cannot get enough of your videos. Thankyou for sharing your knowledge in such an easy to understand fashion.
Thanks. I'm moving on to a rotary table series next. Stick around.
Hi Joe,
This is well explained by taking all the elements separately and describing every variations and effects. There is a thing that affects the performance of those tools is the rigidity of the machine itself, small lathe owners are finding it much more difficult than us with the sturdier machines, trying to part stainless on a little Atlas is something else, this is where small kerf blades will save the day... ;)
I must have had excellent teachers cause parting blades never scared me, meaning that I got no more mishaps with those than with any other tools.
Cheers, Pierre
Keeping the tip buried is really important as well.
Jow, thank you for anexcellent video. I am a machinist new guy and learned so many valuable points here. Keep the good work coming.
Good video, very clear! Here you can get carbide inserts for parting off. GTN-L, GTN-N and GTN-R. Left right and neutral depending were you want the pip to be. Fabricator is SECO but also available in other brands. This is if you do not like grinding the little tips yourself.
Hey Joe, Thanks for video. You explained parting very well and I as a beginner learned a lot. I just do this as a hobby on a 7x12 mini lathe, but have see all the points you pointed out. Thanks for the insight. Dave
Thanks David.
Will be buying my first lathe and mill (hobby size) for my home shop soon and just want to send a big thanks for all your vids I have seen so far and I'm learning lots. Thanks Joe
Frank Hoose ruclips.net/video/UNfUI9uo4L0/видео.html
Or mrpete222 has good vids on older lathes.
Here is another smaller one that I would love to have.
ruclips.net/video/ypMOts-EWbU/видео.html
When my old man had to make a bunch of washers/spacers,he would plunge in almost to the diameter of the bore,then make a finish pass on the bore,and the parts would 'plink'.... end up on the bar. Try it
I have, it does work. Cool trick.
That sounds like an awesome idea.
Personally, I never just throw the auto feed on a part off, however I will manually start the feed by hand and *IF* everything is going hunky dory AND I know my feed rate is set correctly I’ll reach down and throw that auto feed in. But mostly on larger diameter parts that take a little longer to part. But honestly in most situations it is just a quick operation that doesn’t require the auto feed. Furthermore using auto feed incorrectly leads to the majority of problems for most people.
Anyways, Joe you are awesome man. The details and extent you go through to make operations clear and understandable is so impressive. Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge and experience. You are a better man than I. Your level of patience is incredible. It takes an extraordinary amount of time, patience, knowledge, and experience to make these videos. I truly appreciate your investment.
Happy machining Joe. Hats off to you brother.
Many thanks for the flattering comment.
Thanks Joe,you are a true proffesional,it's funny how alot of these guys think they have a better way of doing,it's all about hands on,and we know they don't have true hands on experience,thanks again joe
Joe, after adjust my cross slide and compound to make my mini lathe rigid I was fallow your recommendation, and finally I was able to cut 1 inch of 6061 without chattering and tool filling. Thank you again! Before, parting was stressful!
Glad I could help!
I bought my first lathe 2 weeks ago, an old South Bend 9" clone.
Trying to teach myself some lathe work, I have a few projects I need it for.
I had real trouble parting of bits, my tool (new "bought" parting tool) kept wandering off to the left. After seeing this video I figured out the the tool wasn't sitting exactly straight or didn't have the right angle to begin with. The tool post isn't exactly mint.... But a small touch of on the grinder and the tool now goes straight!
Thank you! I like the white board explanations, it gives me "aha moments". :)
Parting has always been a love/ hate thing for me. I love doing it, but like you said- that sound when it goes wrong. I have successfully powerfed the tool, in the neighborhood of 200-250 rpm and .002 per rev, but I don't make a habit of it. Everything has got to be PERFECT for it to go well. Anyway, I learned a few more things from this video, thanks again.
Again thank you. Every time I get stuck on the lathe with something that I don't get I wind up back here, spend 30 minutes learning and moving. This time it was parting last time it was using microdrills. See ya next time for a new solution ;-)
Thanks Joe. Exactly what I require. Can't. Wait to get to the garage tomorrow and put your ideas to work. Many thanks. You have an excellent site and are a very good instructor. I am 76 and learning machining as a hobby and to support my wife's small business tooling requirements. Your videos and my machinist handbook answer my questions. Well done.
I really enjoy your videos, very informative and easy to understand. I read through many of the comments and didn't see anyone's comment identifying the bit type. I believe the type you were describing is a "T" type profile.
Well, I watched the video more than once - so much information and it all made sense and it was logically explained. I bought a new parting blade (HSS with a bit of cobalt) and used a continuous lubricant run. I did the things you said - my stress levels when parting are 221 times lower than before!! Your information is helping me so much. Thankyou. Mal
Outstanding. Thanks for watching.
One word says it all -- "Excellent".
Thank you Bob.
very good instructor, easy to understand.
Thanks
This is such a comprehensive and well explained guide to parting. Simply brilliant.
Thank you.
I hope its helpful.
I use a .095" Tantung parting tool and I always run a flat top, with no rake. I power feed when parting, doing as many as 100 parting cuts in 4140 steel per batch. I never have any problems. Tantung is amazing, so much better than HSS or even carbide. I had to build my own holder. The tool blanks were surplus screw machine tooling and commercial holders were not available. It makes parting a breeze!! Try it if you get the chance.
Thanks man, parting is always a night mare for me and I will try your recommendations. Your films are very useful. Cheers from Sweden.
I’m a novice. Learning a ton from your videos. Thank you so much!
Happy to help!
I just found your channel yesterday, and I've already watched a bunch of the videos. Fantastic info and explanations. Thanks for making them!
Joe, Thanks for all the great info on parting tools. My first experience with parting tools were bad news. I was using cheap chinese HSS tools with no idea how to set them. I was able to finally get decent results with the HHS, but always had to hand feed. I later bought an ISCAR DGTR 1212-3 tool, with both left and right hand inserts.(not cheap). I can power feed this tool with great results. I highly recommend this parting tool.
Those insert parting tools are nice. They work well with a flood coolant system. Thanks for the comment Herb.
Really appreciate you sharing your years of experience and knowledge focusing on 1 point like this.
Great material again. My first lathe crash was a cheap dry parting tool.
Mine too. Scared the shit out of me. I thought HSS needed to be run at high speed. I was young.
Joe - thanks for the tips - just starting on the lathe and had no luck parting - Going to try your suggestions and see how it goes. Well presented, clear and logical.
Good luck!
Great amount of information. Good job on explaining this operation, Joe. Thank you.
Thanks for watching Skeeter.
The deep focus on detail, scenarios, and sharing of past errors made this content-rich and a good learning experience. And we like you too, which is a bonus!
Its hard for a Jersey boy to keep it light, but I'm trying. Thanks for the comments.
Thanks for the video Joe, they are always very educational. I use a parting blade on an Aloris holder that is shaped like the one you are using but has avery narrow v-grove chip breaker in the middle of the blade. Works better than any I have ever owned. I also find it easy to set the quick chg. tool block with a machinist square referencing the tailstock barrel.
Thanks, I use the talistock barrel as well. I skip the square though. I make direct contact and check it after I tighten it again. Good reference surface.
I'm always amazed at how eloquent you deliver your experience, for such an amateur as myself! Just toasted 2 hrs of lathe work to a bad parting job: now I see why! Thanks for the fabulous and helpful advice:))
Thanks for the great tutorial ….used this today and parted off 4 identical parts and countersink the end of each ….without taking the material out of the chuck ….. I’m starting to think about things more …previously would have done 1 at a time
I use a short piece of ground hacksaw blade as a parting tool for making washers out of delrin. It works great and is virtually for free.
I've seen that done. It does work.
I have learnt so many fabulous working tricks from you. Thank you Joe.
Very welcome
Hi Joe. I'm now using a KT3.2 Tanjential brazed carbide tool.. I made the toolholder myself and adjust the rake with a wedge below it. Goes very well and feeds fast.
Hi Joe, another great tutorial saves making a lot of frustrating mistakes.
Thanks.
Thanks. Keep the pressure on the tool. Keep the chip growing and wet.
Just wanted to throw a big appreciation your way. I'm about 2 months into using my first lathe and the info on your videos and a couple other guys on youtube have been a huge help in making some successful parts on the first go round without any tool damage. The detail is great. Thanks, keep up the excellent videos.
Feel free to ask questions if you have a problem. I try to answer.
Buy nice or buy twice - I love it! My motto also, I've been there done that - bought nasty, got nasty! I have tools over 30 years old and still work fine because I bought quality. Note: when you do a clean out, the old idiom:if you haven't used it in 6 months, throw it out" this does not include tools! I will qualify this: if you know you won't use (because you bought newer/better/etc, then give it to someone who can use it, or 'pass it round' through Joe or Adam or the various Keith's (and others) out there - they will greatly appreciate it!
Thanks Joe, I am finding your videos helpful and practical.
My shop is mostly for super-dense hardwoods, so I use metal tools for the precision.
I do cut a lot of delrin and have to clean-up casts of silver and bronze.
My main parting tool is the most el-cheapo chinese thing. I use it for delrin, it's hopeless on metal. One thing I DO like about it is that it has a taper from the tip to the body such that the perpendicular alignment is a bit more forgiving. That way I get a little more latitude when adjusting the leading-edge bias.
The nemesis of parting hardwood is the grain - most saws and parting tools will chip-out the OD or ID on a wooden part - usually ruining it. Unlike metal, wood has grain. Woodgrain is never perfectly straight and the last thou of the cut can ask the grain to go splitting-off wherever it wants - specially with cuttoff operations.
So, for anyone who is parting wooden cylinders - the way to avoid the chipping is to have the tool speed extremely high .. you can't do that with RPM of the lathe - the wood will fly-apart, so I mount a high-speed Dremel kinda thing into the toolpost with a circular saw rotating the opposite of the lathe-spin.
The reason this works is because you have to overcome the weakness of grain by leveraging the inertia of the actual grains themselves. Woodgrains are about 4 microns, so to get the inertia in that tiny thing, you got to have extreme impact-speed from the tool to break the grain without the grain-cleavage getting involved.
It works in all other ways as you have described Joe - the rotary saw-blade acts exactly like a high-speed parting tool - and the alignments are critical.
I know this is wood, not metal, but please consider: Lignum Vitae (the second-hardest wood) was used for bearings on submarine prop-shafts. And wood blunts tools faster than steel does - because wood has a lot of silicon in it .. and I have seen it produce sparks off of the tools in some cases.
Anyway - thanks! Subscribed.
Since buying my lathe around 4 years ago, I've struggled with my HSS parting blade catching, chipping &, sometimes, even BREAKING the blade; I average a 4" blade a year. Since watching this vid (my first because of this issue) I reconfigured my setup & now get perfect results 95% of the time. Thanks Joe
Excellent. Thats a win for both of us.
I was a welder, the boss found out that I had some experience on a lathe, he put me on an old worn out 12" lathe and brought me a keg about 2 ft. tall full of 1 1/2 " by 12tpi nuts and told me to part them into 2 thin nuts, without any advice or instructions. I broke a lot of parting tools and tried every angle I could think of on the tool and finally got the job done. this was about 50yrs ago and I still don't like parting tools but Joe your video's are first rate and I appreciate all of them.
Thank you. My first machine shop scare was with a parting tool and I have respected their explosive potential ever since.
Hi Joe..
I love your tutorium shows, there are the best of the best. I am ferly new on machining as I learned that little I know pinching it from lathe to lathe on my workplaces, as I am a qualified Boilermaker / and a professional welder , study metallurgy and have a passion for it...(have to understand metals at first in order to weld them), and always working with fitters and machinist, That they have been through in my life time , but always had passion for engines and motorcars ..learning to rebuild engine, gear boxes all the way to differentials, which I regard them as the hardest thing to do where fingertip feeling is the most important thing...Saying that...I just turned 65 years old and now with the ambition to learn as much as I can...lathe machining, and hope in later days if I still be around....even Milling machines..... as I wrote earlier....developed over the years. I have interest for lathe working, and finally I was able to by one.. AL- 960B.
The al-960 is a good little lathe, I know a guy that runs a business machining fire safety valves for a living and thats all he uses to run his business, so you’ve made a decent purchase. Joe is a good teacher for beginners, he has a lot of knowledge, but he goes way to slow for me. I try to watch all of his videos, but most of them I watch at 2x speed, or just skip right through most of it. As you are beginning, I highly recommend you watch the whole video, sometimes twice. Until you have the experience, watch and learn from people who do.
Excellent video Joe. Thanks for taking the time to get these things out!!
No problem. Thanks for watching.
Brilliant tutor, very methodical explanation.
Glad you liked it!
I ex'd nearly all of those boxes today, and it was the heartache brought me here . . After braking 7 carbide tips, I noticed my tool post was flexing, so I reverted back to my heritage . . . and whipped it off with the grinder. Thanks for the education Joe! I think I'll invest in a proper parting tool.
Some times such as on a couple of large bronze bushing I made recently (9"ID) I like to use a boring bar with tool steel ground to a 45 to chamfer the back or Left side of the bushing ID before I part it off, also leaves almost no burr parting into the inside chamfer. Really enjoying your videos!
That does work, but don't go too deep with that tool, or the burr you leave will be an elevated ring on the back face.
This was a great video, in a food manufacturing maintenance team almost everything we make is SS which can often present problems will parting off, very similar to your story of miss use or lack of experience of a parting tool, power feeding 5" plastic at somewhere around 700 RPMs I wasn't catching the parts and had 1 land on cross slide and get hit but the extending jaws sending it flying at god knows how quick, lesson learnt reduced rims and catch everything
Joe You have taught me three valuable lessons in machining out of the 4 video's I've
watched of yours so far, as for this video the way you showed the angles & rake of a
parting tool made me realise it's a lot like cutters on a Chainsaws Chain which I've
collected now for 30 some odd years ! What an Amazing Teacher - Proud to be a Subscriber !!
Thank you very much. Glad I can help you.
Love the Joe Pieism "By it Nice and you won't have to buy it Twice". Another classic, Thanks.
How about " if you got chatter, somethings the matter" and my favorite...'When the chip exceeds the grip, the part is going to slip' Both are very true. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks a million Joe. I was have a horrible time parting until now. Great video. I wish I knew half of what you have forgotten.
Thank you.
I missed this one when it was first published. Must have been out on the road at that time.
The biggest improvement to my parting occurred when I checked and adjusted the big bearing on the headstock. I adjusted it from .006 "lift" to .002, and 98% of the parting problems I was having went away. Of course the results of standard turning improved as well.
The rest, that is not related to the nuances of setting the tool up properly, is caused by a lantern tool post that needs retirement. I'm working on a solution to that at the moment.
In short, those that are running older machines need to make sure that they are in adjustment. A few thou loose will allow the work to climb the tool, changing the center and allows the spindle to rattle around, causing chatter.
"What is conceived well is stated clearly, and the words to say it come easily " Thank you !!
I appreciate that.