I’m a neophyte turner. I bought the Woodriver basic turner set when thinking of getting a lathe 8 or 9 years ago. It was on sale and I was there. I didn’t buy a lathe until a month ago and was surprised, once I knew enough, to notice there was no parting tool in the set. I’ve watched many videos and could see my Narex 1/8″ mortise chisel wasn’t completely different than some parting tools I was seeing. I tried it and it seems to work fine. Would the real deal perform better? I’m thinking my next one (first one?) should be thinner. What should I be looking for? Is it a fools errand to buy tool steel and make my own? Knowing nothing, the design seems simple enough.
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Replies
Your mortise chisel should be fine for the task. Parting tools are nothing special. I made a thin parting tool by cutting and grinding a cheap Walmart chef knife. It works great. I'm sure it doesn't hold an edge as well as an hss tool, but it's quick work to touch it up on the grinder.
Parting tools are just a special case of a scraper tool with a marked negative rake so any chisel will work
I would recommend investing in at least one though as the real deal has more flexibility.
My personal preference is for a diamond cross section tool which means that there is much less chance of binding in deeper cuts. The effort involved in grinding anything like that profile means that the lowish cost of the professionally made tool is easily justified.
Having changed from a straight-edge tool to a quality diamond parting tool, I can tell you the difference is significant.
You may also want a narrow parting tool, and most turners will grind one of these from an old knife at some point.
Any turner will tell you that the best tool is the one that gets the job done for you. Don't waste money on stuff you don't need.
If you want to make your own parting tool, I suggest you use a file as the steel is harder than a chisel, my best scrapers are made from files from which I removed the tooth’s with an angle grinder and shaped the end to suit my needs.
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