Parting is one of the scariest lathe operations. If you understand that jamming of the tool and chips inside the slot is the primary cause for most catastrophic parting failures, you can do things to help prevent this from happening. This video deals with some of the tricks I use when parting on my home lathe. I also deal with a unique tool to cut rubber gaskets, seals or square washers typically used in model engineering and vintage motorcycle restoration.

The Stanley knife blade should be used at low speeds and medium feeds. If the rubber sticks to the sides of the blade add a little light oil, or dishwashing liquid for rubbers that cannot take oil. The Stanley blade sharp edge can also be ground to a standard parting off blade, and used for cutting soft plastics like PTFE. This works particularly well for making gaskets and steam seals used in live steam applications.

Check out Adendorffs website (https://www.adendorff.co.za) for the tools used in this video...

A rear parting tool post is not considered as it is not suitable for lathes without a slotted (typically thicker) crossslide.