Zee--I find parting off to be one of the more "heart stopping" operations that I have to do on my lathe. I have been most successfull when parting off aluminum to use the lowest speed available (115 RPM on my lathe) and lots of cutting fluid (sprayed from an aerosol can). My lathe has a fixed speed motor but an internal gear transmission that lets me select the correct gears for various speeds, so torque is not a problem at these low speeds. I have scared myself so many times by having the "part" in the chuck suddenly try to "walk up" and ride on top of the parting off tool when I get close to that final "seperation" that now I just get moderately close to having the part cut off, then walk the part over to the band saw to finish the cut. I have even less success parting off mild steel. Although I have never stalled my lathe, I have broken a cut off tool, and that is a "life altering" experience. My parting off tool is HSS not carbide. I find it to be VERY critical that the cutting edge of the parting off tool be exactly on center of the lathes turning access. ---Brian