Woodturners love narrow parting tools because they allow you to get more turning from less stock, they cut with less resistance and they open up other design options (like the grooves of a honey dipper). The problem is, the thinner parting tools get, the harder they are to sharpen. Get the end just a little out of square and the tool won’t cut straight. If the edges get a little rounded over, you’ll get tear-out at the entry point. The Ultra-Shear Parting Tool Ci changes all that by eliminating sharpening altogether. Instead, the cutting edge is a nano-grain carbide insert, ground on computerized equipment, polished to a razor-like edge and replaceable in seconds.
As if a thin-kerf carbide parting tool wasn’t enough, Woodpeckers also fluted the insert, creating a profile that makes an incredibly clean entry cut on even the trickiest woods; from open-grained softwoods to ultra-dense tropicals…they all cut cleanly. If you need a perfectly flat bottom, there’s an optional fully-square carbide insert.
The carbide insert is just slightly under 3/32" (.0825" to be precise). The blade holding the insert is 1/16". The difference gives you .010" (“ten thou” in engineer-speak) clearance on each side of the blade. Bottom line, with that clearance you’ll never burn your project or your tool again.
Woodpeckers also designed the blade holder to keep the inserts where they belong. The other insert parting tools on the market use inserts designed for metalworking machinery. The geometry of those inserts relies on consistent pressure from exactly the same contact point to keep the insert seated. Put them in a hand-held tool and it doesn’t take much of a slip for the insert to fly out. But, Ultra-Shear’s re-designed geometry takes the wedge-theory and improves it with a profiled feature that grips the insert securely, even at odd approach angles.
Woodpeckers patterned the handle and blade after thin-kerf parting tools first made popular in England in the 1980s. The tall blade resists twisting and bending. The short blade length and knife-style handle give you comfortable, confident control over the cut.
If you’re looking for a parting tool that cuts clean each and every time you pick it up, and never needs sharpening, Ultra-Shear’s Parting Tool Ci is for you.
I give the tool a 3 out of 5 rating. I tried it in both hardwood (oak) and softwood (juniper). It cut well at the start of each cut, but after about an inch of depth it started chattering and it showed on the wood after the separation was complete. I tried different positions , and still only the beginning was a fairly clean cut. The softer juniper left a cleaner cut than the oak.
My HSS separating tool does a nicer job although it makes a wider cut and needs sharpening often. As I use mostly carbide tips in all my work, I was disappointed.
Good Point...The woodpecker makes a thinner groove than I can do otherwise, and it is equal to the HSS for cutting at the beginning of the cut.
I will use it, but only when I feel a thin groove will be advantageous and only on softwoods.
Thanks for asking my opinion, and please don't give up trying to make a perfect carbide parting tool as there is a need for one. thanks
4/4 Rough Cut Roasted Maple Lumber Pack
Good quality plywood, fast and reasonable shipping!
These hardwood cutting packs are a wonderful product. The boards are beautiful and the quality of the cuts are superior to any I've ever seen. I will definitely be buying again! Thank you KJP!!