I'm 64 have been disabled with a left arm/shoulder injury since 1978 and got a second dose of disability due to spinal injuries in several places in my spine . I'm also about to have a replacement left knee joint . ( All I need now is a brain & heart transplant & I'll be good for another 64 yrs ) .
Till recently I was very limited in the way I could do anything in the man cupboard on the lathe , drill press or band saw or at the 42 " high work bench plus I'm limited in strength , upper body & limb movement as as I had two stenosis growths in L2& L3 pressing in on my spinal cord most of the time. It meant my legs wouldn't allow me to stand still for much more than 1 minute at a time. I ended up doing a bit of sitting and also raising the lathe on a hard nylon wheeled lockable castored 2" x 1/4" thick welded angle iron steel frame , so that my feet can allow me to stand with my ankles against the frame ..feet part under it . I canalso easily support myself by leaning on the table at this new height or use a hand on the table to support myself most of the time (with crutches in permanent easy reach. The top of the tool post of the lathe is now at the easy height of being the same level as me standing supported I'm now able to stand by the lathe , when it's stopped I can comfortably put my right elbow on the top of the tool holder with with my spine and legs in the most comfortable weight bearing position.
( It's the same height as the top of an engineers vice jaws should be when the vice is fitted to a heavy work bench if you do a lot of filing/bench fitting ).
I found that to sit down and see what was happening at the tool post ,tool & chuck was not the best position for me due to also having thoracic spinal problems as well . Reaching forward across the lathe carriage in the sitting down position with a bust spine and dodgy arms to change chucks , put new work in the chuck or set tool heights is not a sensible option for me .
Even cleaning the lathe whilst sitting and making oiling and gib adjustments etc. was /is very difficult . To attempt to use the pulley engagement lever whilst to operate /disengage it sitting or by using a jury rig was far too dangerous . I have an old Atlas type lathe with back gears)
Unless I design a sound strong cable operated system a bit like an old lawn mower throttle cable and change lever I'll still have to reach over a moving chuck .....so that operation has to be as safe as possible.
I've also put in a stop , start & combined kill switch to the right of the chuck at the tailstock end because I tend to stand to the right of the carriage hand wheel & operate it with my damaged left arm .
Getting spat at with hot chippings was annoying me , for most of the time I've been working with bare arms because of safety concerns , I solved that by making a clear shield out of high grade poly carbonate . Screwed it to a slug of plastic scrap 3/4 tall by 1/2" thick by 4 inches long inside the plastic I've super glued 12 neodymium magnets in groups of four all with h e same polarity at the side where it sticks to the lathe apron to the left of the cross slide just above the hand wheel . The poly carb is four inches wide by five tall ....just enough to get those annoying hot chips almost every time they fly . To clear the screen I pull the guard off the apron and use a soft nylon hand sweeping brush to flick them off the magnets into the trash bin.
I have an armless leather round ( BUTTON ?) seat office chair with hard rubber wheels . I can set the height of the seat so that my feet rest on the angle iron frame edge or upon the wooden floor I infilled the frame with . On the days when I need to sit at the lathe I adjust the height & use the button seat as a perching stool with the edge of the seat just under my butt cheeks , a bit like riding an old fashioned wide seated cycle.
I'm fortunate for when I sit on the button stool it 's hard rubber wheels are braked by my own weight on the seat.
As soon as I grasp the lathe table top and take my weight off the seat pad I can easily push the seat away with my backside so there is no problem of a seat being there to trip me over or cause me to make difficult movements .
I've had the stenosis in the spine removed about 10 weeks ago and am now having weekly physiotherapy .. it's still vary painful & difficult to play on the lathe but is is dooable with care & lots of thought .
When it gets to the stage of having to get some one to fit grab handles to the lathe table , I may have to consider getting an electric hoist on over head rails to get me about and to the lathe.
This is what my chair with the " Button" seat looks like but it does not have the foot rest ring on it .
Dentist's often use these chairs when sitting at the side of an open mouthed victim.
Absoe table & chairs
YS119D - Gas Lift Stool - Drafting Chair