Left Hander

[Ray Phillips]

Greetings all, I am a newbie when it comes to wood turning. I have been reading threads for quite some time. I really enjoy this forum because everyone seems so nice and ready to help us who are "wood turning challenged". I am left handed and I have made several pens and when turning spindles I don't have a real problem. I attempted to turn a small bowl this week and I noticed being left handed presents some challenges when I am attempting to hollow out the bowl. Is there such an animal as a LEFT Handed Lathe? I have an old Rockwell 1460 12x36 lathe that I got at a school auction. I also have a Jet mini lathe. I know there has to be some left handed turners on this forum so any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Von Bickley]

Ray,

I can't help you with any wood turning questions but I can say "Welcome to The Creek".

Glad to have you with us...:) :) :)

[Bill Stevener]

Hi Ray,
I guess the only way I can put it is, "turning is kinda like typing -- both hands do the work. Don't know of any lathes for left handed folks. :)

[Jason Clark2]

Mike Mahoney is left handed, Stuart Barry gives him a hard time about it. Stuart claims that right handed people learning from Mike's videos are actually learning to turn left handed.

I also know several people who turn with their lathes spinning in reverse. Wally Dickerman, Donald Derry, and J Paul Fennell come to mind. Donald Derry teaches a class on reverse hollow form turning with the lathe spinning in reverse, this allows you to hollow without extending your body over the bed of the lathe.

Jason

[Mike Vickery]

Short answer is no. I suppose any lathe that goes in reverse and you can move the controls around could be used as a left handed lathe.

In truth most turner end up tuning right and left handed at different times so it is not a big deal for a left hander to turn on a standard lathe.

I know Kevin McPeek who is a member here is left handed, he might be able to offer some insight on how turning differs for left handed folks.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Actually I'm going to be a bit funny about this answer. yes there is...it is called a Robust. Slide the headstock to the end and turn outboard. that way your body position is not restricted. Some other lathes can accomplish a similar thing, but I didn't say it.:D :D

[Robert McGowen]

Couldn't you get a lathe that reverses and just stand on the other side of the lathe?

[Keith Christopher]

hello, lefty here, it's one of those things we have to deal with in a right handed world. It takes some time but you get used to it.

[Philip Duffy]

Ray, Welcome to the insatiable desire to turn wood crowd! As you develop your skills you need to know that many of us can not turn the pieces we do without using almost all the tools with equal dexterity from both left and right. Since you already know how to do things with your left hand, the rest is easy! Just copy a good right handed person and you will be set free! Serously, you need to go both ways - - for your own safety. Philip

[Kevin McPeek]

Another lefty here, being left handed in a right handed world is funny some times. There are left handed lathes, very few and far between and $$$. As others have said you can turn in reverse and stand on the "wrong" side of the lathe.
However, one thing that helped me is watching Mike Mahoney's videos because the things that I was doing that looked wrong according to other people turning suddenly started making sense.
I would suggest that you practice right handed a lot so you can use both. Try standing in different places also, mostly it just takes a little time to find what works for you.
I have a DVR XP and one of the reasons I got it was for the rotating headstock so I can turn to bowl towards me when hollowing it out.

[Jim Becker]

I'm right handed, but have to switch hands often, depending on what I'm working on and where on what I'm working on I'm working....;) Turning is something that tends to require "both handedness" more than other woodworking pursuits.

[George Guadiane]

I'm left (VERY) handed too, but have managed to adjust. For starters, you COULD stand on the other side of the lathe. That isn't the best way to go.
I have continued from "Gosh I'm retarded" through "I can almost do that now," to "That doesn't feel TOO unnatural" to not even thinking about it most of the time. I have gotten to the point that I really don't think about it much. If it's awkward to contort myself in order to use the left hand (or if it could be dangerous), I just change over. You can do it too!

[Richard Madison]

Ray,
To follow what Jim and others have said, keep trying and it will come to you. For ref.; some years ago I had an injury to my right hand (close encounter with some farm equipment) that made it necessary to use my totally uncoordinated left hand for ALL the usual tasks (use your imagination) for two or three months. As the weeks passed, my left hand became considerably more dextrous. Years later I'm still right handed, and/but still do various things fairly well left handed (including some turning, usually near the spindle) that the right hand won't do. Keep on turning. It will come to you.

[Steve Trauthwein]

I don't think turning is a "handed" operation. If you watch any videos or read any instructors they will refer to the "dance", which is basically a way of pivoting on your feet while holding the tool steady.

One can also over control the tool rather than letting it walk into the wood. I find I don't think about handedness as I shift the tool from left to right, whether cutting spindles with a gouge or different operations on a bowl. Don't over think it and I believe it will come to you.

Regards, Steve

[joe greiner]

It takes practice, but you can become at least partially ambidextrous. My first attempts were for awkward billiard shots which were actually easier if done "wrong"-handed.

Reversing the lathe could be a work-around, but beware of a thing or two: Most, if not all, spindles have RH threads and use accessories to match. A serious catch or significant torque resistance can unscrew the accessory from the spindle. You should use a 4-jaw chuck, as well as a faceplate, with a setscrew to lock it onto the spindle. I don't think you'll be able to use a screw chuck, and some spur drives have the spurs with a RH bias.

Joe

[Gordon Seto]

How do you lefties drive? How do you shift on floor mounted, column mounted shift levers?

Driving is a learned skill; so is turning.

I am right handed. My left hand turning is no worse than my right.

My adult son is visiting us. I am teaching him turning. He knew nothing about the catches. I started him with roughing gouge, skew and a safe drive. He is not there yet (still a long way); but he is not afraid of the skew and I observed that he uses the skew more often than a spindle gouge.

Gordon

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

As a lefty, I thought it might be a problem, but turning IS a two hand endevor. As such there are times where either hand will be on the tool rest.

Just practice the 45% angle of approach both ways, and I believe you'll get the hang of it.

Bruce

[Ray Phillips]

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I am somewhat ambidextrious. I am going to view some more turning vidios and practice practice practice and see if I can get the right hand to think it is the left. Again thanks for the help. This is the reason I like this forum. Some day I will turn something good enough to post a picture.:) :) :)

[Phillip H Smith]

Ray...

I, too, am totally left-handed. It really hasn't caused a problem. I use my left hand for control and the right for stabilization. Pens, bowls, bottle stoppers, spindles turning...NO problem. In fact, I think we have an advantage over the rightys!

Enjoy...turning. It's the wood not the handness that matters.

[Allen Neighbors]

I am right handed. It took practice, but now I turn either right or left handed, and I also turn from both sides of the lathe. I very rarely reverse turn, and then am very careful to take very light cuts, because my chuck doesn't have set screws. I sand in forward and reverse, using either hand. Just practice, and don't worry about it. When you need to change hands, do it. It'll come to you.

[Ray Phillips]

Thanks for all the imput and suggestions. I will practice practice and practice and maybe I can convince my right hand to pick up the slack and do more work.Your nice comments and suggestions is the reason this forum is great. I look forward to when I can turn a bowl that is good enough to post with pics.:) :) :)

[Dean Thomas]

Yep, practice, practice, practice. Just had a demo by Dennis Liggett from Colorado Springs. He says that he has a warm-up routine for his daily turning, not unlike a golfer has a warm-up routine before a match. He goes through some specific skill exercises that really pertain to his own style & projects.

When I've not turned for a few days, I have some SPF blocks that I've cut up to get my timing back, too. Cut-offs & scraps from any construction site can be cut into convenient lengths & widths to practice beads, coves, and skew skills of all sorts. And because the pine was free and because it cuts easily (but tears out easier!), practice with the SPF is really character building as well as skill building.

In a demo a couple of years ago, Alan Lacer did a similar thing, with a skew only, of course. He took a stick of maple and cut beads with his skew. He started on the headstock side and laid out his beads at about 1/2" width and the closer he got to the tailstock, the narrower the beads. He laid them out with the skew positioned long point down to cut V-grooves. Then, he cut all the right sides of the beads, all the way down to the itty bitty beads on the right side (less than 1/8" diameter), and then went back and cut all the left sides. After he'd done this exercise, he cleaned off all the beads and laid it out again. This time, he laid out the beads as before, but this time, he cut each bead completely before going to the next. I honestly don't remember if he switched hands or not. I think that he did. When I do this exercise, *I* switch hands!

Couple of thoughts, anyhow.

Hang in there. Keep practicing. Practice makes wood chips!