Hi Dean, it sure does, mainly because you reduce the overhang and flex a lot. Cheers Rob

You're welcome Donald. It makes parting off easy as there's minimal overhang. Much better for small lathes. Cheers Rob

You are very welcome Roberto. It works well as it has less overhang than the commercial ones. Cheers Rob

@@Xynudu You did as the saying goes, usually the simplest solutions are also the best! I can’t thank you enough for sharing your knowledge with us! Thank you very much good sir! Cheers

Thanks Ray. I got so sick of parting off dramas and breaking blades, I knew there had to be a better way. This works real good. Cheers Rob.

Hi Gord, Interesting to hear. I don't have a slotting saw either :) Maybe one day. After the video I finally made another holder for my small parallel sided blades. I just cut a slot with my metal bandsaw (I put the work on a 45 degree angle in a second vice in the existing saw vice). Then I opened it out with my die grinder friction disc, and finished off with two hacksaw blades side by side to size and level it correctly. I'm sure there are lots of ways to make one. Side screws sound interesting. But yes, they work great, mainly because you have zero tool holder overhang, which caused me no end of grief with those small blades - snapped at the blink of an eye. Thanks for the feedback. Cheers Rob

Hi John, I just use 1 part engine oil to four parts kerosene. It smokes a bit but is cheap, like me. Gotta love those Italian bikes. I wonder where your old RGS is now ? Cheers Rob

He He. 8 was enough. Cheers Rob

Hi Les, I have done that. It depends how thick they are. The regular thin ones flex side to side too much. Cheers Rob

Try old circular saw blades, the ones out of 18v battery saws might be perfect thickness. Don't know how they would go getting re-hardened after chopping up by grinder but cheap enough to try...

Hi Mark, Yes, it's pretty old, but if it did the job in the 1950's, then it should do the job now :) Cheers Rob

Sure. That would make a great parting blade provided it fits in the toolpost. Rob

Hi Javi, I did a web page on the indicator: users.tpg.com.au/agnet/microdro2.html Good little project and super handy and accurate. Cheers Rob

The best thing about this holder is that there is very little overhang. So much less chance of blade breakage. Works great. Super simple. Cheers Rob

Worth a try. Thanks for the tip.

Hi Pete, That originally had a carbide tip on it. That wore out and as the base is HSS I've been using that. The T shape works well at clearing the cuttings. I don't know if you can buy them without the tip. Cheers Rob

I don't re-melt the chips as they have a huge surface oxide area and just seem to slag up the mix. Cheers Rob

I dip my Al in muratic acid and then waste oil before foundry. The oil goes to CO and CO2 when heated/burned. Cuts down on my dross.

Good question Mike. I thought I bought them from Banggood, but they don't have HSS parting off blades, so maybe it was Ebay. I bought two at the time and they are marked HSS 2 X 12 X 200. Search on that and heaps come up. That's the best size to get. Quite cheap to buy. Cheers Rob

Excellent I’ll check them out thanks 👍

Hi David, I have full details on a web page: users.tpg.com.au/agnet/microdro2.html Cheers Rob

Thanks Rob, another project to keep me busy

I used two hacksaw blades side by side in the same frame.

@@Xynudu Thanks for your answer.

Hi Peter, some current health issues have curtailed my M/C activities for now. The F1 is ready to roll, but the 860 bevel has a gear change issue I have to investigate. Cheers Rob

If by endmill you mean parting off blade, the following (in order of probability) may cause this: 1) the blade cutting edge is above centre 2) the blade has not enough back relief on the front edge 3) the blade has no top relief Cheers Rob

I have full details on a web page: users.tpg.com.au/agnet/microdro2.html Cheers Rob

Thanks Rob, Nick

xynudu

The blade is parallel to the bottom, same as modern commercially made holders. The end of the blade top has to be ground with a relief. The old timer parting blades were held at an angle to avoid grinding the relief. The blades I use don't have a vertical taper. Either way, it makes no difference to grinding a relief. Cheers Rob

Rob, thanks for the quick reply. I carefully re-watched and can see how yours and the commercial holder have the blade parallel to the bottom. Which gives a neutral rake and that confuses me since I've always heard that it should have positive rake. My Alorix-style holder slopes the blade up to give positive rake. Now I regret paying good money for the Aloris-style when I could have made one like yours for "nothing". Thanks, Bob

Hi Bob, It's confusing as none of the old manuals make mention of adding a relief, as the blades were always canted in the old days. So newbies will always break a few blades before the penny drops and they realise a relief is necessary with modern holders. Been there, done that. Cheers Rob

Having said that, blades in the old style holders will be more resiliant, as by canting the blade, you effectively increase the vertical thickness of the blade due to the offset. So older is almost certainly better in this case. Cheers Rob

It's a digital LCD tire tread depth gauge. There are lots of these on Ebay and some now come with a metal probe rather than plastic. Dirt cheap. Cheers Rob

@@Xynudu I have one of those Rob, yours looked like it was spring loaded though? Am I correct there?

I made it spring loaded. Here's how I did it : users.tpg.com.au/agnet/microdro2.html

No. I bought it at a garage sale years ago for $5. It originally drove via a flexible cable off of an electric drill, but I changed it to direct drive with a junked AC motor. Super useful for facing stuff like this, breaking edges etc. Cheers Rob

Yes.

The lock also clamps the blade to stop side wander, so that won't work. Good thinking though. Cheers Rob

Hi Harold. Good idea regarding the angled cutter face. I used to do that, as it clears the cuttings better, but fell out of the habit - it would have helped with this job. Cheers Rob

EdBailen that sounds extremely painful.