Any Left handed turners ?

[Joe Watson]

Just bought my first wood lathe (Rikon 70-100) and was playing with it today (14 yrs of metal cnc lathe's made the learning curve alittle shorter :) ).

Made this "cup thing" so i can get a feel for boring out bowls and discovered its alittle tough for a lefty.

Currently the lathe is placed on a bench which is against a wall so i cant walk around and "work off the back of the lathe" while carving out the inside of things, tried holding the chisel with my right hand and that didnt last tool long. In time, guess im gonna have to make a small bench on wheels or something to beable to walk around to the back side and work. Bought the 24" bed extension also, so spinning the lathe around on the table is a bit of a pain.

Was gonna look into a switch to run the motor in reverse, but being the spindle has right handed threads, you could not use chucks or thread adapters :(

Anyway...
Any other bumps in the road for lefty's on a woodworking lathe ?


_

[David T gray]

buy a chuck with set screws

[Philip Duffy]

Joe, You should strive - work hard at-- becoming comfortable with either hand as the lead. I constantly find myself switching hands during many turnings and for me it was easy as pie. If it is not easy for you now, work at it! Phil

[Steve Vaughan]

I'm a lefty and there are times when it's awkward but DITTO what Philip said. Even if you could walk around on the backside, it would be to your advantage to learn to work with left or right lead.

[Bill Hensley]

Well up until now I never gave it much thought. I'm sitting here mentally turning trying to determine which way I hold the tool.

Spindle and shaping I typically do left handed. Faceplate work I switch to right handed. Only once in a while do I find myself in an awkward position but it's never been much of an issue.

[Brian Libby]

I am always changing from one hand to the other. may seem a little awkward at first but with practice becomes natural.

[Thom Sturgill]

Ditto. I'm another lefty and truthfully, I think WE have the advantage here. In a right handed world we have to do so many things right-handed that most of us are ambidextrous to some extent. (Almost ALL truly ambidextrous people are natural lefties) There are places where righties have to turn left handed and they are typically lost! In addition left-handed means right brained and the right-brain controls your ability to visualize spacial relations - something like 80% of architects are left-handed versus 11% of the general population.

[Lee Koepke]

The above fellow left handers are correct. I equate it to how I play golf .. since I had never played before and ONLY had right handed clubs (because of the evil right handed conspiracy!) ... I play right handed. I also found out that I can play (equally as bad) left handed!

With turning, for the most part I turn 'right handed' although I do think some of my difficulties in the learning curve has been some of the cuts arent natural for me. I also can switch a tool around and make a very nice cut left handed when necessary.

I tend to approach the machine the way it was designed to approach ( ie not coming in from the back) I'd rather think my way thru a cut than do something the machine wasnt intended for.

PS I use the RIKON 70-100 as well, and its on a stand, so when I hollow out the bowl, I can walk around to the side and work from there.

[Darren Jamieson]

I agree that you should try to make yourself get comfortable with either hand taking the leed. OR (I don't know your machine offhand) either slide the head or turn the head so you are turning away from the ways. Just make sure you have a good banjo extension (not cast iron) so that you know it won't snap off and land on your foot.

[David E Keller]

Good advice thus far. Wally D. is a lefty, and he does some beautiful stuff... Whatever challenges arise shouldn't be insurmountable. I'm right handed, but I switch hands often especially while turning spindles. I'm betting you need a little practice rather than a drastic change in setup.

[Wally Dickerman]

Thanks David.... Did you know that 7 out of the last 13 US presidents have been leftys?

It's true that it's a right hander's world. So we leftys have to adapt, which makes us better than you right handers....:)

Lathes, like all other shop machines, were designed with the right handers in mind. Recent innovations such as shortbed lathes, sliding and swiveling headstocks, lathes which can turn in reverse and locking chucks, have made it easier for us leftys.

Hang in there and learn to turn either way. It'll make you a better turner. Turning from the backside of the lathe isn't the answer.

When I'm teaching beginners, they all hollow bowls using the gouge right handed. A beginner doesn't know the difference. They have both hands on the tool.

[Tim Thiebaut]

There are places where righties have to turn left handed and they are typically lost! .

This is pretty much me all over Thom. I am a righty, but there are times I need to switch hand postions and feel very ackward and wobbly when I do. I go very slow and take my time so I dont lose control of the tool. My lathe is bench mounted and I do wish I had room to put it on a stand in middle of the floor as there are times I wish I could access it from the other side to get into the bottom of a bowl etc...as it is I am having to lean way over the ways in a very ackward postion to try and accomplish this.

[charlie knighton]

Jimmy Chrews...might be misspelled