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squaring/sharpening a parting tool

Joined
May 13, 2004
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I have a 1/4 and a 1/8 in parting tool, both tools are not square across the cutting edge..what is the best/repetitive way of squaring and sharpening them...I have a slow speed grinder and a wolverine Jig, I have touched the cutting edges to the wheel and have ground them square, but I can't seem to get a good clean bevel, with the tool riding on the rest and my fingers guiding it....tks ....
 
Joined
May 29, 2004
Messages
995
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Location
billerica, ma
Call me clueless but, by my experience, putting an edge on the parting tool is very simple. Since you are sharpening it from the side and will only have a very small cutting surface, just rest the tool down on the wheel and do a small grind. It won't be perfectly square but it doesn't have to be.

Just curious, by your post, how you are sharpening it. Looking at the grinder, you should have the base of the tool in the wolverine, and you should be looking at the thin edge of the tool. you should rest the ground edge against the wheel (with it off) with the wolverine set so that the edge alignes with the wheel relatively flatly. When ground, the tool will look like a slightly curved arrow point (the slight curve is due to the grinding wheel being round and grinding the edge to match it's curve). No other squaring is required. Your cutting edge is only 1/8 inch wide and the curved ground side of the tool is the bevel.

Good luck,
dietrich
 
Joined
Jun 6, 2004
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Location
Royersford, Pa
I don't remember where I saw this but you set your tool rest table flat so it is 90 deg. to the face of the grinding wheel; then lay your parting tool on its side and grind one side then the other. If your table is set right you get a square edge. Of course this doesn't work with a diamond shape parting tool.

Mike
 
Joined
May 15, 2004
Messages
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For the edge to be square, the grinding wheel face must be flat and square to the rest and you must hold the tool exactly perpendicular face of the wheel.

To dress the wheel face, I use a diamond pointed dresser in a shop made holder. The trick is to make a holder for the dressing device so you can make a steady and square pass along the grinding wheel face. Simply hand-holding a stick-type dresser may clean up the wheel face, but it does not guarantee that it is square to anything.

I don't remember where I saw it, but somewhere I read that the diamond tip should trail across the face by about 20-30 degrees and slightly below center. I use block of wood with the end cut at 90 degrees square (to be used later as a reference face for the parting tool) and with a ledge to reference in the groove of my Veritas tool rest. I drilled a 3/8 hole at 25 degrees for the diamond point holder and slotted the hole to create a pinch-clamp. With the diamond tool clamped in place and positioned to take extremely light passes, you take off just enough to square the wheel and later just enough to clean up the face. It's easy to take too much off (it won't hurt the diamond, but why waste the wheel).

With the wheel dressed, I back out the tool and use the end of the same block as a 90 degree reference for the parting tool. I position the parting tool flat against the block (like holding stock against a jointer fence) and flat against the rest. This automatically positions the tool square to the wheel in the same plane as the dressing tool. Set your bevel angle on the rest if you want (or free hand the bevel angle... if you are good!). With that, you are set to grind the tool perfectly square. Take light sweeping passes across the face of the wheel to keep from grooving the wheel in one place. You can't go wrong.

BH
 
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