Left-Handed Turning....

[gsmittle]

I'm thinking of sliding down the Slippery Slope, but I'm quite strongly left-handed.

Does a left-handed lathe exist, or does it matter? Any other lefties who turn?
How did you adapt?

Thanks,

g.

[Workman]

I am a lefty and I (try to) turn. I don't have the solution. I have thought about turning on the backside of the lathe a time or two, but you would also have to have the motor reverse direction. Spindle turning I always thought was like almost everything else in the shop - one side is always easier than the other - but I figure it was just reversed for righties and lefties. If I could do the left side of a bead or shoulder and they could do the right it would be so much simpler. Yesterday I was putting the "finishing turn" on the right shoulder of a rolling pin (the side lefties can't reach), my tool grabbed and oh *****. I didn't even think about it being caused by my being a leftie! When turning the insides of bowls (and right ends of rolling pins), however, do what most lefties do and just become ambidexturous. It is easier than reaching around backward and inside - or spend a bundle and get a really good head rotating lathe with a substantial tool rest where the bed doesn't get in the way and a $300 chuch that will hold EVERYTHING. I'm dreaming of that day. Meantime I'm just glad that my lathe isn't a pair of scissors!

[guycox]

Reversing the motor direction shouldn't be a problem -- just swap the polarity on the starting capacitor so that it kicks the armature in the opposite direction...

Some lathes even have a motor direction switch so that work item can be rotated in the opposite direction for sanding ( some folks seem to think that it helps). All they are actually doing is flexing the wood fibers in the opposite direction util they break off --keep the sandpaper sharp and cut the fibers..

Be very careful running a lathe in reverse as the inboard chucks, drawbars and the like are desiged to work in the CCW direction.. Most chucks have a "grub" screw but success depends a whole lot on the design of the headstock spindle...if the headstock is threaded all the way to end there no place for the grub screw to sit except on the top of the headstock spindle threads ( not a good thing)...

The motions for rolling the beads are not all the complicated -- get some pine and learn to turn them with either hand/stance. It's a lot easier than writing... Start by learning to do the planing cuts with either hand, then v-cuts and then beads...

[gerti]

I think reversing the motor may be a bad idea, to many things would be self-loosening instead of self-tightening.

I always thought of turning to be a fairly ambidextrous affair, often the left hand requiring as much if not more control than the right.

Getting bad catches when you start turning has nothing to do with being right or left handed, it's just the nature of the beast.

But maybe I am badly misjudging the problem, sorry if I am.

Check with a local AWA chapter:

http://www.woodturner.org/community/...t=Chapter+List

Most welcome non-members to their meetings, that might be a place to ask around for fellow left-handers.

Gerd

[RayintheUK]

I've been turning for quite a while now and although I'm naturally left-handed, I turn "conventionally" because I find it gives me more control along the rest - often the secret of a nice finish straight off the tool.

The grip, angle and pressure required can easily be acquired with your "wrong hand," if you take it easy. My lathe has reverse built in, but I only use it when sanding. I wouldn't even think about trying to adapt my lathe now - but you'll probably need to try it for yourself to see just how possible it is before pulling the trigger.

Ray.