I've seen the stuff about relief being needed before. Is the function to allow the removal of chips or is there some other reason? I'll probably buy a couple of the machinist books recommended on the forum. Found them on Amazon and they look good. Think I'll start with this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0831130792/ref ... YYB38CNK3X. I'm not even sure of the proper techniques for sharpening the cutting edges. Sure wish I could take some machine shop classes but they simply aren't available for the average person. I even checked our local high schools and they no longer have shop classes! Thought I could contact the teacher ... That's pretty sad.