"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...

P.S. I might add before I tackled the interrupted cut I tested the
lathe bit on a 1" piece of 304 stainless. It was really really
good. I think I've been selling myself short by not hand grinding
more HSS bits.

I've noticed that what really matters is keeping the wear flat below
the cutting edge less than about 1/32" high, in agreement with the
experimental edge geometry results in the Cincinnati Milling Machine
book from Lindsay. Top rake angle (or none) and having the bit below
center don't make too much difference. I no longer bother to measure
angles.
--jsw