I think I must own every parting tool on the market today along with a few not on the market. Over the years I have bought the latest and greatest, but to no avail I sometimes don't get a smooth cut.

I was recently showing a student how I grind my parting tool. Hold it on one side and then the other. It dawned on me that there is a proper way to part by using the burr created by the grind. The burr is on one side and not the other. The last side ground will have the burr facing up on the other side. Next problem is how to remember which side was ground last. I started putting a convex side and a concave side on the parting tool (cove and bead). I grind the cove first and then the bead. The burr is up on the cove side and it became easy to use the burr for parting. Now I get really good partings.

It works for me.