Easy Wood Tools New Carbide Parting Tool - mini review

Small disclaimer to start with - I am a huge EWT fan. Already have most of the tools they make, some in a couple different sizes. I think they are beautifully designed and crafted tools with awesome support and I have really enjoyed owning them, so I do bring that bias to reviewing this latest tool.


I currently have all three of the basic tools in two sizes, plus all three of the hollowing tools.


So, I was happy to have my new parting tool show up a few days ago to join the family!


It has the same quality materials and perfectly finished finishes as I have seen from the rest of the line, and came with a special tool for the bit changes plus an extra bit (nice bonus).


It is a unique tool compared to the others because it has a whole new (and rather ingenious) way of holding the cutting bit due to its very thin profile. Because of this the shaft is actually vertical rather than horizontal at the cutting end.


The bottom line is that it works as well or better than any of the other chisels and adds a whole new capability for carbide tools.


I did observe one thing for those of us working on mini-lathes - because it has a higher cutting point than the other tools it ends up sometimes being a little on the high side unless you are comfortable with a "downhill" angle and so sometimes have you move the tool rest up and down as you switch back and forth between it and the regular chisels - but I think that's a pretty small inconvenience relative to the ease of use and no need to ever sharpen.


The tool arrived with the natural maple finish on the handle (same as the hollowing tools). On the suggestion front, I think it would have been cool to see it be another color like the three basic chisel handles are - makes no difference in how they work, but sure makes them look cool and helps to quickly identify them when in the tool rack.


Bottom line - I'm delighted once again with my purchase, and am looking forward to what they will come up with next.

The insert and it's mounting method are just re-purposed metal working tools. Before I retired I had several of different widths, used them for parting off and turning flat bottom grooves in shafts.

Thanks for the review, Erik.

David

Erik,

Thanks for the review. I know what you mean, I've been bitten by the EWT bug too. I am looking right now at their new chuck. Seems interesting, kinda pricey though.

And another thank you from me, Erik. Your review got me to thinking more about this tool. When I first saw the price, it caused me to make a little gasp. I have 4 parting tools already. 2 are very small which I never use. 1 is narrow and 1 is a big one that I bought when I first started turning some years ago and it's the one I use the most. I have some carbide tools that I use about 50% of the time and some are Easy Wood small entry level and one is the pen rougher. I also have 4 Harrison carbide tools that are the larger size. Since I like the ease of use of these tools (for me anyway), I've continued to think about the Easy Wood Parting tool. After discovering that it is a full size tool, I've ordered one and should get it tomorrow. One thing that helped me make this decision is the following article by Kurt Hertzog. I'm not sure if it's okay to post a .pdf reference so I hope this will be available here. It's a very comprehensive article with pictures and how to do a cutter replacement. I don't know if Kurt has any affiliation with Easy Wood either.

http://kurthertzog.com/articles/easy...review_red.pdf

Got the Easy Wood parting tool today. Very nice and it works like a champ. It's much faster and easier than my other parting tools so it was worth the price for me Very good quality and made in USA. I forgot that I have my tools on an a magnetic rack so I had to add a slot with a little cross bar to hold the new tool in the rack.