Thread: HELP and ADVICE NEEDED

Hold the skew perpendicular to the timber, if it's off by even a little bit it will run away from you. And start the cut slowly

Andrew, I thought I was doing that, and I did start very slowly, only to see a slow spiral??!!!! Amos

Amos, I normally do that with a thin parting tool, not as treacherous as a skew.

It's got to be perfectly at right angles to the blank, as well as being perfectly vertical. A minor deviation either way and it starts cutting threads.

Most people are cutting threads when they part off with a skew, they just don't look closely enough.

I hold the skew flat on the rest and use the point to scribe a V-groove, then hold the skew as you do and use the shoulder of the groove to guide the bevel.

Or, like Big SHed, I simply use a thin parting tool... one I've made from a kitchen knife.

Either way can lift a bit of the end-grain, so for "critical" pieces I make the start of the cut before I finish sanding - or in woods that really tear out badly before I finish turning - and then finish the cut afterwards.

The only parting I have done is with a diamond shaped tool and flat across the tip. So the cutting is all done in the width of the tool,mine is 1/8 inch at the cutting edge. Its a bit different to a metal lathe parting as a parting tool on a centre lathe is at centre height and goes straight in towards the centre of the work till it parts off. With the wood one it starts above centre hight and without pushing it inwards you raise the "bottom hand slowly to take the cut you desire.Essentially as you raise your handle slowly it brings the cutting edge closer to the centre line which then forces the wood to peel ,You then move the tool above centre and raise the back of the handle again to take the cut, repeat as necessary hehe, still worries me a bit as do most wood tools hand held lol. I know this sounds a bit tricky , but some masters do it one handed Might even find a demo on u-tube somewhere, I havn't looked but somebody might have , Using a skew to part seems to be a bit dangerous and if you have some real depth then you will be cutting on 2 faces at once ,with the shavings coming towards each other and a possible jam up. Somebody will probably be able to explai more clearly than this ,but it may help you , cheers ~ John

Yep John, I use the 1/8" one from Northwood Tools, as opposed to the one on the metal lathe!

OK Thanks everyone, if you hear morse code you will know that I have not followed your instructions, if all is quiet on the Southern front, then I may have switched off in disgust. If there is a reply that says "Yaaahooo!!!" you will know another fluke has occurred!.Amos

Hi Amos. I hope this isn't a dumb idea, but I wonder if some sort of jig couldn't be roughed out that would guarantee that your parting tool would have to track straight into the work. Then, you would be parting the way machinists do. You have such a creative mind, I'm sure you could design something.

I'll second the 1/8" parting tool (freshly sharpened) and coming in gently at first.
Once you score the line, it should be easier to follow it through the blank.

Hello Al, my creative mind is thinking, "how can I fob this off to look like I really meant spirals to be there!", but you are right,until my skill level improves, a jig would be a good idea. But- for tonight--- ALL IS QUIET ON THE SOUTHERN FRONT--, Amos

why not just use a fine toothed Japanese pull saw to part it?
minimum wastage etc

Do you need both bits to be presentable? You are doing it with the skew point down aren't you ? (prolly a dumb question. ) I think it should work, but you can't just go straight in in one bite to part of with a skew. You go in first to mark the line then go in from either side of the line, first one side then the other kinda running down the angle of the bevel.

You could also make a modified grind on a parting tool so there is a tiny skew on one side of it the finished the surface a bit better than a plain parting tool. Although I guess tear out isn't really the problem with acrylic. I think you just need a really thin parting tool like a knife blade.

Hey Amos,

There's some good advice there, Skew's idea of starting the cut before finishing,will be used in this shed from now on. I like the thin part-off tool made from a kitchen knife idea, maybe Skew could post a couple of pics, I read a post the other day that someone did that sounded pretty easy to do, but I need to see pics.

HazzaB

Here 'tis. Made from an old filleting Knife.

The blade is only about 70mm long and I very rarely use it to part more than 40 or 50mm deep - even then I still make a double-width cut. Any deeper is asking for trouble, as is making a "single width plunge cut."

FWIW, what used to be the knife edge is pointing to the bottom of the pic, and to sharpen it I simply start the grinder, wait until it gets up to speed and then turn it off, then quickly and lightly touch up the end while the grinder's winding down. It's only carbon steel and overheats/burns way too quickly with the grinder under power.

It looks pretty grubby, but I was using it earlier to part off hot-melt glue and... well... I'll clean it next time I use it.