Relieve Diamond Part Tool Heel?

[Don Stephan]

Anyone relieve the heel to save time when touching up the cutting edge of a diamond parting tool?

 

[john lucas]

Never have removed the heel of my parting tools even though I do on all others. The heel of the parting tool.never touches anything.

 

[hockenbery]

Anyone relieve the heel to save time when touching up the cutting edge of a diamond parting tool?

I don’t
Easier to sharpen.
The concave bevel makes it easier to line up on my line to make the cut

The ABC works with the parting tool
Anchor, Bevel, Cut

 

[Steve Tiedman]

A diamond parting tool's best purpose is as a tent stake. Unless that cutting edge is maintained dead-on at that rib, it's a less-than stellar cutting tool.

I don't recommend them, if asked. I suggest only uniform thickness parting tools. To those who say the diamond shape doesn't get as caught up in the groove being cut, I suggest that regardless of the tool, you should be making your cut a hair wider than the tool anyway to avoid friction and binding.

Whoever invented the diamond gave us a poor solution to a problem that never existed.

 

[JeffSmith]

Watching a demo by Art Leistman last night, I was reminded of his sharpening a 1/8" parting tool on its side on the platform (platform at 90 degrees to the wheel. This puts the concave hollow grind along the width of the tool's edge and allows the tool to track straight into the wood without 'seeking' the intended line. The long ground edge also can be used at an angle to shear-scrape a small raised surface.

I had seen him do this at a past demo a few years ago and it works well when I tried it...

 

[Don Stephan]

I don’t
Easier to sharpen.
The concave bevel makes it easier to line up on my line to make the cut

The ABC works with the parting tool
Anchor, Bevel, Cut

View attachment 66881

Anchor bevel cut is great way to bring cutting edge to oncoming wood. But in my opinioin relieving heel of parting tool will have no effet on a-b-c.

 

[John K Jordan]

"relieve the heel to save time when touching up the cutting edge"
I guess I've never felt the need to save time when sharping a parting tool. Set the platform angle, grind a couple of seconds on a 600 grit CBN, hone off any detectable burr by touching too a leather wheel, done.

FWIW, I've taken to a different grind on some of my "diamond" parting tools, a different angle on the "top" with the point meeting the widest part of the diamond cross section.

The three at the bottom show this grind.


These are the old Craftsman parting tools - the ones I use the most for general work.
I like the angle which allows entry into the wood at a slightly different tool/handle presentation which feels comfortable too me.
I find this a little easier to make a very clean cut.
It does make these tools usable with just one side up which hasn't been a problem.

The other one I use the most is the Thompson, the vertical one in this picture. The shaft on this is 5" long, about 1/2" diameter - I hold the shaft, have never put it in a handle.
I use this, and some others with flat sides, but twisting it back and forth very slightly when making a deep sizing cut. This lets the sharp edges behind the point shave away a tiny bit of wood on both sides to increase the clearance.

I've ground the sides flat on one of the smallest tool to make the cut thinner - handy in some situations.

JKJ

 

[hockenbery]

does make these tools usable with just one side up which hasn't been a problem.

That would seem to be a benefit as it will work better burr up
Easy to remember which is up

The convex bevel makes the bevel angle steeper too. + & - on the steeper angle.

 

[john lucas]

I used to grind my diamond parting tool with a much more pronounced cove top. Don't know why I quit doing that.

 

[John K Jordan]

That would seem to be a benefit as it will work better burr up

I don't know about that. After sharpening any tool I always remove the grinder burr with a strop.

I usually use one of three types of strops:

• A leather strop, sometimes thin leather glued to a flat board
• The leather wheel on the Tormek with honing paste applied
• Better for straight cutting edges like parting tools and skews is a hard strop

I make the hard strop by resawing a piece of MDF into thin pieces, maybe 4x6” and 3/8” thick. I leave the surfaces rough, straight off the bandsaw. I firmly rub some type of polishing compound into the rough surfaces. Holding the skew (or scraper) tight on the surface then lift the handle ever so slightly, maybe just a 1/2-deg or so, with the cutting edge tight against the board. While pushing down hard, draw the tool back. This will remove any grinder burr. Even better, it can refresh a slightly worn skew edge, restoring it to shaving-sharp! I do this several times before I use a diamond hone or take a skew back to the grinder.

Some of the "hard" strop boards, mostly for skews but I use them on parting and other tools:




JKJ