Parting remarks

[Joe Melton]

I turned a pretty nice oak goblet, and when I parted it off at the foot, some wood fibers tore out. This seems to be a constant problem with my parting. My Sorby parting tool is sharp, and I ease up on the pressure near the end. Its a real pain to sand out the torn place if I don't reverse chuck.
Does anyone have a solution to this problem - a way to eliminate or lessen the tearing out?
Thanks,
Joe

[Cliff Rogers]

You could try stopping just short of it finally parting & cut the last bit with a knife or sharp chisel..... with the lathe stopped.

[Dennis Peacock]

Some use a "spoon gouge" which is a carving tool and getting the lathe to just barely turning, apply just a tiny bit of pressure of the cutting edge against the wood and it will part it clean.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Darn it Joe! Cut that out! I read your post title and saw your name and my heart dropped! I'm glad we're not talking a different "parting". Now to business. I have experienced the very same thing you speak of and the only thing that I found that helped was:

1. Super sharp tool
2. A bit more speed
3. a thin rather than thick parting tool

Even then it still happens some, but not as bad especially if the oak is in the spalted stages. Also the tears seem to be much smaller.

Some use a "spoon gouge" which is a carving tool and getting the lathe to just barely turning, apply just a tiny bit of pressure of the cutting edge against the wood and it will part it clean.

Haven't tried this and it sounds like it might be worth the time investment.

[joe greiner]

I generally turn the bottoms of small bowls and goblets with an undercut rim anyway, so that they sit better without rocking. By advancing the parting tool at a slight angle, it behaves more like a tiny skew chisel and leaves a smoother cut. Similar to Cliff's suggestion, I leave a small center dowel and cut it off (stationary lathe) with a saw or whatever, and finish it off with a hand chisel, Dremel, or some such tool.

Joe

[Pat Salter]

I usually don't part too close to where I want it to be finished then turn it around and remount the piece with a jam chuck or whatever to hold the piece then finish the bottom off with a gouge. This is how I finish the bottoms of my boxes. I know you would have to be careful of the thin stems on the goblets.

[Doug Collins]

I found that if I use a VERY sharp skew with the point down and alternately work towards and away from the base, I can get a smooth cut all the way down to a very small nib that I end up taking off with a hand chisel.
Just have to be careful to support the work when the tenon starts getting thin so it doesn't break off prematurely.

[Glenn Hodges]

When you are parting off a foot and you get down to a point you can say you are almost finish with the parting, stop the lathe, get out your hand saw, and saw off the rest of the remaining tennon. It works for me.

[Jim Ketron]

I use a homemade Skewchigouge for doing final parting on my bowls,HF's and such.