Five year penturner needs help

[Rmartin]

I haven't turned a pen this year. I had lower back surgery in January. The rehab has taken longer than I had expected it would, but I'm back to work on light duty.

I still have nerve damage, but I was out in my shop today for the first time in months. It won't be long before I'm back to penturning. I suffer from another affiction though. I'm left handed. I hold the tool with my left hand and use my right as a guide on the tool rest. That hasn't been a problem with turning pens. I really want to make a bowl for my first project back at the lathe. You see, my light duty at work is a promotion to lead carpenter over 15 men which comes with my very own office. I want to make a bowl to hold mints on my desk.

I have my jet lathe with the head stock on the left side as I've seen every other lathe set up. When I swing the tool rest to hollow a bowl, I can't get my arms in a comfortable position. Can I turn the lathe around? Any left handers out there? I need your help.

Now that I think about it, this might be the wrong forum to post this, sorry, I'm a bit rusty.

 

[Andrew_K99]

Does your lathe have reverse? If you rotate the lathe 180°, which some have done, it would have to rotate in reverse.

 

[azamiryou]

I was going to say the same thing: run it in reverse and put the tool rest on the other side. Only problem is the on/off switch will be on the far side of the lathe from you.

Even running it forward, you may be able to do a bowl by standing on the other side of the lathe (you'll be cutting on the far side from where you're standing, though).

 

[George417]

That is the reason I don't turn many bowls either. I'm a lefty also, but I do use the reverse on my Delta Lathe for that purpose.



:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[nativewooder]

I'm a lefty and it's not a problem to turn righty! It feels discombobulous but that goes away quickly. Just begin to turn righty with careful moves and light cuts and progress from there. Or, you can turn your lathe around. My lathe is set up in a spot where I can access both sides 'cause sometimes variety is the spice of life (turning)!:biggrin:

 

[KenV]

A classic lefty who is a great turner is Robert Rosand -- He just turns lefty standing from the back side of the lathe. No reverse needed. Robert shows his technique in his DVD that is for sale on his web site (google search on his name).

Great turner, teacher, and nice guy too.


Glad you are feeling better and turning.

 

[Andrew_K99]

A classic lefty who is a great turner is Robert Rosand -- He just turns lefty standing from the back side of the lathe. No reverse needed. Robert shows his technique in his DVD that is for sale on his web site (google search on his name).

Great turner, teacher, and nice guy too.


Glad you are feeling better and turning.

I just looked at this video preview and he does use reverse.

http://www.rrosand.com/

 

[leehljp]

AS others have said, use a lathe with a reverse and put the head on the right side, OR learn to do it "righty".

I am right handed but I have some tremors in my right hand from time to time, (genetic) and there are times on occasion that I "must" use my left hand, when in refined groups, to eat or hold a coffee cup. It feels awkward but I had to learn to do it or spill or drop food. Most people don't even notice.

LOML is left handed and was given a VERY fine guitar when we were in Japan by some people that knew she could play the guitar. Of course just about all guitars there are for right handers. She learned to play a right handed guitar as a kid - holding the guitar backwards and strumming from an upside down motion. Recently, she was asked to play a couple of songs in a group and the way she held and strummed it was a shock to the music crowd. They had never seen such playing. They were more focused on her "weird" playing style than the music she played.

Do what you want and need to in order to get the job done that you want. The world is open to those who go after it!

 

[raar25]

What about gettting a different lathe which lets you swing the headstock so you can turn outboard? I realize that is an expense but you should be able to get some good money for your Jet if it is in good condition.

 

[Texatdurango]

Another lefty here BUT I never had a problem holding the tool in the right hand when hollowing a bowl or platter. I would suggest holding the tool in your right hand and practicing on some scrap wood just to see if you get the hang of it.

When I started turning the friend who taught me a lot was a lefty and he never gave me an opportunity to hold the tool in the left hand, he just said... hold it in the right hand for hollowing and that's that! Now I find myself switching back and forth even on pens. As an example, I find it more comfortable to turn a small tenon holding the skew with my right.

Maybe there are degrees of being a leftie and I'm just not hard core left!

 

[ed4copies]

All of you recommending reverse, please remember that your chucks are designed to unscrew from the headstock. IF you get a catch, there is a high probability the chuck will start to unscrew OR the jaws will loosen their grip on the bowl.

Doesn't take much loosening of a bowl, turning at 1000 rpm to start travelling OFF the lathe.

Just a warning----use great caution!!!

 

[Jim Burr]

All of you recommending reverse, please remember that your chucks are designed to unscrew from the headstock. IF you get a catch, there is a high probability the chuck will start to unscrew OR the jaws will loosen their grip on the bowl.

Doesn't take much loosening of a bowl, turning at 1000 rpm to start travelling OFF the lathe.

Just a warning----use great caution!!!

I was just going to bring that up...Thanks Ed!! I turn bowls at 1200 to 1800 rpm...ala Jimmy Clewes. If you are going to go reverse...lock that sukka down!

 

[babyblues]

All of you recommending reverse, please remember that your chucks are designed to unscrew from the headstock. IF you get a catch, there is a high probability the chuck will start to unscrew OR the jaws will loosen their grip on the bowl.

Doesn't take much loosening of a bowl, turning at 1000 rpm to start travelling OFF the lathe.

Just a warning----use great caution!!!

Good point, Ed!

If you use a faceplate you won't have to worry about your chuck coming loose. You have two options using a faceplate. If you're able and willing, you could reverse the lathe, turn it around and hollow with your left hand. However, using a faceplate would also allow you to use both your left and right hand if you decide not to turn the lathe around. You could rough the blank out round and turn the bottom of the bowl with your left hand then hollow it out with your right. There would be no need to take the blank off the faceplate from start to finish. In my experience, roughing the blank round and turning the profile of the bottom of the bowl takes more time than hollowing out the middle of the bowl, so you'd not be using your right hand as much.

 

[Rmartin]

Thanks very much for all the suggestions. I think I'll keep my eye out for a swing type lathe, but until then, I'm going to give right handed turning a try.

 

[GoatRider]

I've found that with skews, it helps to be able to hold the chisel either way. Some burls just demand to be cut left to right to keep from chipping out. Plus, if I'm tapering the ends, it goes better if I'm always cutting "downhill". And even though I'm very right handed, it's more comfortable to hold the chisel left handed if I'm cutting to the right. So I know you can learn to do it the other way.