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Parting Off :-(

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Arbalist:
I'm using insert parting tools on my little 8 X 14 Lathe at the moment as I often seem to break HSS blades. I've bought some Tee shape HSS blades to try though at some point to see how they work.

Joules:
Take your flat sided parting tool and hollow grind it if can, even a Dremel would do the job.

raynerd:

--- Quote from: Garyrmck on March 01, 2015, 04:25:39 PM ---Hi,
I'm having trouble parting off.......... yesterday I broke 2 blades..........

I have a Seig SC$4 lathe fitted with a Seig QCTP. This has a rather strange parting off holder that uses 14mm blades. The only blades I can find for this are simple lengths of HSS. The blades have no side relief so I assume my problem is that the blade is jamming due to expansion as it heats up (I was using water soluble cutting fluid, and the blade was square and on centre). I would like to junk this and get a decent parting off tool.

I anticipate most of my work will be aluminium, mild steel and brass, with only a very odd piece of stainless thrown in.

Last week I bought a pair of Diamond Tool Holders (tangental tool holders) from http://www.eccentricengineering.com.au/ and have found them to produce superb results - I'm getting a mirror finish on aluminium, so I was wondering if anyone has experience of their inverted parting system?    http://www.eccentricengineering.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=45

Are there other alternatives that can be suggested?

I spent several hours last night reading every thread I could find - including one 15 pager! But it seems that there is no one answer. I've read that the tool should be on centre, above centre, below centre, that inverted is great, inverted sucks, normal sucks, normal is best, rear is best, rear sucks etc etc. All very confusing for someone new...

I'm prepared to buy a good tool, but they are not cheap, so I was wondering what the latest opinions are? Don't want to buy the wrong thing....

cheers
Gary

--- End quote ---

Speaking as someone who couldn't understand the dark art of parting off for many years, the key to me was a sharp tool and rigidity. I can part on my Boxford and I can part on my tiny Cowells. I spent a fortune on a tipped parting tool and still no luck. It was only until I had my lathe running with little vibration and with the slides locked up that I started to get results and get a feel from it. The tipped tool is in the cupboard and I just use HSS tools now.

steampunkpete:
I part off quite happily on my mini lathe (C2/C3 clone). As the guys have said it's down to the right tools and rigidity.

Make sure that the gibs on the slides are properly adjusted. Make or buy a carriage lock; one that pulls the carriage down onto the bed, not the Satan cursed other sort.

I don't know what the Sieg SC4 bearing arrangement in the headstock looks like, but if it is like the SC3 it would benefit from the ball-race to taper bearing modification as that improves rigidity.

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