Looks OK to me, Just make sure the cutting edge is set to centre height and you are good to go

> Not suitable for going up to a shoulder though.

Unless you angle it slightly, then you will just about get away with it. When it gets blunt this tool is only sharpened on the very end, copying the existing angle. Just take enough off to remove any wear.

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 16/05/2015 20:47:16

That's a good tool for cutting reasonably free-cutting steel on a light machine. As Jim C says, it has a large top rake angle but this is a handy dodge.

Used to have one ground like this myself when I used the Portass years ago – the old boy from Birkenhead who sold me it was an old hand (full time machinist and serious model engineer!) and ground one for me. You use the corner of the wheel to form the groove which results in a nice rake angle.

Murray

The tool looks to be one of the 5-piece set sold by Proxxon (for a mere 64 quid!) for use with the PD400. I too bought the set because I knew almost nothing about lathe tooling when I bought the lathe, so reckoned I should start with 'proper' tools. I was confused by the Form 1 thing – I assumed that it must be a standard designation, but it seems to be a Proxxon thing. Except for the parting tool they work well – a 3mm DOC in mild steel with the tool shown is possible, though perhaps not advisable on this light machine.

13Sigs – if it was the parting tool in this set you broke it's unlikely that the problem was with sharpness (all the tools are sharp OOTB). More likely it jammed – the saddle/cross-slide assembly on this machine is insufficiently rigid to take the cutting forces with such a wide blade, although the spindle has the power to drive it. Well, that was my experience anyhow.

Regards, Robin