Left Handed Turners

[GBF]

Not by me.
Lathes in my opinion are designed to be used right handed and that is the only way I will teach

Regards George

[Gary Lowe]

Hi Ed, like a lot of people who have answered I am naturally right handed but taught myself to turn with both hands (yes at the same time too, lol as single handed is very dangerous )  When teaching I try to get all students to do the same i.e. using both hands rather than just left or right handed. Like you say it is probably easier to teach someone who has never turned before but with perseverance a natural lefty will pick it up easily although some quicker than others.

Rgds  Gary

[Bryan Milham]

I stand by my (it is my) thought that a turner should be able to use both hands when turning. But I had a thought last night, something I knew but had maybe not considered fully.

So by way of an apology to George, as he teaches his students how to turn by way of making bowls and platters.

Bowl Turning is a almost exclusively a right handed procedure on a lathe, and hence it makes sense that you do need to learn to do it that way. There is the occasional cut, that needs to be done left handed, but as long as it's done safety, it probably does not need much in the way of finesse.

It is spindle turning (be it a true spindle or any long grain turning) that needs the ability to turn left as well as right handed.

[GBF]

As you say Bryan most of my students are learning Bowl and Platter turning which requires no left hand turning.
I do and teach spindle turning but probably not as much as I should .Because I wanted to improve my spindle turning I spent a lot of time watching Steve Jones and because I have never seen him turn left handed I Emailed him and asked him if he ever turned left handed and he said no and that changing hands just wastes time for a production turner. I have now practiced spindle turning doing it all right handed and find everything can be done right handed.
I agree that spindle turning left handed is quite safe and if that is the way you prefer to do it that is fine.
I do think however that some turners think it is clever to turn left and right handed but in my opinion it is not that difficult on spindle work.


Regards George

[Eric Harvey]

Here we go again,Everybdy I say again,Everybody should be be taught or learn to turn with both handswether they be left handed naturaly,right handed naturaly or ambidexterous(me after having had my left hand put in my pocket at school,then my arm tied so I could remove it,but I still used my left as soo as I got out of school) as in some situations on a lathe you just can`t get in with right handed turning,I know your on a mission to make everyone right handed George,but not everyone wants to be like that and they want to be taught by a competent turner both ways,as to the time issue swapping hands,it can be done literaly in less than half a second,so that`s that excuse out of the window to and I`m a crippled up old flid,so a fit person should be able to do it quicker,if you are just left handed and can`t grasp being right handed you should be taught left handed,and then just practice doing both as much as possible until it clicks,I used to teach apprentices in the dental trade,another place where you need to use Ror L  hands for in different situations,some take longer than other,but all can master eventualy even if it takes years.

[GBF]

I am not on a mission Eric you can hold the tool in your arse cheeks if you want to.

Regards George

[bodrighywood]

I have been trying to think what the difference is between left and right handed turning to be honest. If I am turning something I hold the tool in the way that is most comfortable, gets the best cut and is safe. Also some woods (certainly in spindle turning) cut much better in one direction than another. Are we talking about the way we hold the tools, the direction we cut, how we stand what? If it is safe, achieves a good cut then great, whether you want to call it left or right handed is irrelevant to me. The student George was talking about was, by the sound of it. very awkward and so probably dangerpoius in the way he had been working and wasn't achieving a good result so BGeorge was IMHO right to 'retrain' him. what label is put on it is for me irrelevant. As far as Steve Jones response is concerned I am not going to argue with a third or fourth generation turner who has been doing it all his life LOL.

Pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

I turn right handed most of the time ......until the shavings are too deep that side and then I turn left handed. It allows you to trample the shavings down on the right and then when you start to turn right handed again you can then trample down the shavings on the left!! The only trouble with using this method, especially in my workshop, is after a short while you either have to bend at the knees or use the skew in the trailing mode.

[Eric Harvey]

If I hold the tool there George, I can't reach the lathe without my stepladder, but even then I can't see what I'm doing, not being a contortionist, and when I pass wind I lose my grip entirely.

[GBF]

 

[Eric Harvey]

 

[Mark Hancock]

Interesting Discussion. Like George I teach a lot of students and have found that it is no problem if the student is left or right handed.

First just to correct a few points. Lathes are not all configured for right handed turning. If you have a lathe with an outboard turning facility like the Graduate and OneWay lathes you turn left handed when outboard. Secondly it depends on the methods you use to turn bowls and platters as to whether you need to turn just right handed or right and left handed.

My personal approach is to encourage students to turn both ways and I have never found an issue with that. In fact I find that left handers turn better right handed and vice versa. I put this down to the fact that the dominant hand in each case is the steady hand on the tool rest and if the control hand is simple holding the tool to the body it is not really doing any more than preventing the handle from falling.

Just my thoughts and experiences.

[GBF]

Yes Mark you are right one of my first lathes was a Viseroy and to turn large bowls you used the outboard facility and it was easy to work left handed on it.
I think most modern Lathes are not set up for outboard turning and if somebody asked me to teach them bowl turning left handed because their lathe had the outboard turning facility I would have to say no because I do not have a lathe to turn outboard on.
That said I would suggest they learned right handed.
When there is not a bed in the way you can turn on the outboard left or right handed

Regards George

[Mark Hancock]

Yes Mark you are right one of my first lathes was a Viseroy and to turn large bowls you used the outboard facility and it was easy to work left handed on it.
I think most modern Lathes are not set up for outboard turning and if somebody asked me to teach them bowl turning left handed because their lathe had the outboard turning facility I would have to say no because I do not have a lathe to turn outboard on.
That said I would suggest they learned right handed.
When there is not a bed in the way you can turn on the outboard left or right handed

Regards George

George
Very true regarding turning left or right handed with outboard turning.
You can teach outboard turning by reversing the rotation of the lathe. Most quality variable speed lathes have this facility though you must ensure attachments fitted to the headstock spindle are locked on.