# lathes are LEFT-handed!



## TRX (Jan 22, 2013)

I gravitated naturally to the lathe when I worked in a general machine shop.  But I noticed a lot of operators, particularly newer ones, seemed to have trouble with a lathe.  It wasn't until much later that I realized that it's probably because lathes are left-handed. 

 Right-handed people naturally expect that the world caters to them, and most of them might as well not even have a left arm, since they can't seem to use it for anything.  Being faced with a machine tool with all of its major controls on the left side must be traumatic for them.

 Harry Maudslay, I salute you!


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## joe_m (Jan 22, 2013)

I thought lathes were right handed. All those switches and levers on the left are the easy stuff - flick it or turn it and you're done. They're over there out of the way so your right hand is free to concentrate on the precision and feel needed for feeding that cross-slide just right.


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## GK1918 (Jan 22, 2013)

Ok Im only messin with your mind= you have to mill an auto alternator adjustment bracket slot.  Here
is the mill lets say from WWII.  Is it left or right handed, or both? answer both
A dentist looking in the mirror left or right handed or totally backwards? answer backwards & both

Grand finally -- insert contact lenses- left or right handed? answer both.
Im just playing with you.   although lathes are basically the same it just varies on where controls are
on the maker.


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## tripletap3 (Jan 22, 2013)

If you are referring to the controls on the apron i.e. the hand wheel and half nut lever, I think it is a US vs. Asian thing not so much a left hander vs. right hander. I had this conversation with someone just the other day. It seems that in Asia and some eastern European countries they prefer the controls on the apron to be reversed from what the US is used to. When US importers buy China machines they have to specify the controls to be set up to our specs.


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## HSS (Jan 22, 2013)

Not to hijack this thread, but since Asia was mentioned, there is a 200 cc engine made in China that rotates one direction and on their 250 cc engine, it rotates in the opposite direction. Strange! Sorry about the hijack.

Patrick


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## Tony Wells (Jan 22, 2013)

I used to have a little Enco 12 x 36 (1983 vintage) that had the apron controls set up for that I would think a Leftie. I am so used to using my right hand on the compound and cross slide that I disliked that machine just because it made me use my right hand on the carriage traverse and left hand on the cross slide. Felt like I was cross handing it the whole time. At least the levers were still on the right. I never did get comfortable using that machine. Sold it a few years ago. It was Taiwanese.


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## Richard King (Jan 22, 2013)

When I was 21 my Dad had a contract in Iran to set-up, assemble, level  machines in the city Masjid-i-Solimon for BMY the mfg of the Sherman Tank, another story sometime.......  I went with and helped.  After the job was done I toured the country...another story sometime too...but I was walking down a street one day in Tehran.  In many of these countries and also in Asia.. there might be a machine shop in the urban area next to a pharmacy, there is no rime or reason. Well getting back to the story...I was walking along window shopping and walked by a door and looked inside and there was a lathe that looked weird...I did a double take and walked into the small shop.  There sat a Russian lathe and it was ass backwards.  It was as  if they copied it from a negative picture.   lol... the head-stock was on the right side, controls in front.  They had 2 lathes in there.  They didn't speak English and I didn't speak Farcy (Irainian)  but they know I was a machinist I think...They had no clue why I was so interested in these machines.  Lots of smiles and laughing.  I took a picture, but hell I have no clue where it is now...41 yrs ago now.   I would not want to go there now.... Talk about confusing...  Also here in the states Lucas Horizontal Boring machines would sit from left to right and Giddings and Lewis set right to left.  If you ever ran one or the other and switched you had to be super carful as the rapid lever was ass backward to each of them.    am sure many parts were mangled over the years...lol


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## Ray C (Jan 22, 2013)

I'm having a hard time visualizing what this means...   You mean they put the carriage crank on the right side of the apron controls?  -Yeah, I could see a few weeks worth of screwed-up parts there.


Went to the Bahamas back in the early 80's.  They drive on the left side of the road.  The car I rented was a Citreon (sp?) with a 4 speed manual trans  (shift with left hand) and the steering wheel on the right side of the cockpit.   -Lucky I made it out of there alive...  





Tony Wells said:


> I used to have a little Enco 12 x 36 (1983 vintage) that had the apron controls set up for that I would think a Leftie. I am so used to using my right hand on the compound and cross slide that I disliked that machine just because it made me use my right hand on the carriage traverse and left hand on the cross slide. Felt like I was cross handing it the whole time. At least the levers were still on the right. I never did get comfortable using that machine. Sold it a few years ago. It was Taiwanese.


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## tripletap3 (Jan 22, 2013)

Ray C said:


> I'm having a hard time visualizing what this means... You mean they put the carriage crank on the right side of the apron controls? -Yeah, I could see a few weeks worth of screwed-up parts there.
> 
> Like this.
> 
> I have heard of lathes coming to the US from China with this configuration.


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## Tony Wells (Jan 22, 2013)

Yup Ray, that picture is the "Leftie" setup. It's had to adjust back and forth if you have more than one machine in the shop. Part of me wishes I still had the lathe, but I didn't really need it, as I had others, but I sold it to a guy who builds miniature sleds for tractor pulls using hopped up riding mowers. I never heard from him again, but he's only 50 miles away or so. I believe I got $600 for it, with a few accessories. He wasn't really a hobby machinist, so I feel a little guilty not having it available for one of the guys here who wold probably use it more than a fabricator.


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## Ray C (Jan 22, 2013)

Yeah, I can see that would take some getting used to...  Had no idea such a setup existed.


Ray


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## 4GSR (Jan 22, 2013)

Here's a lathe with the main headstock facing "west" instead of "east".  It's a trepanning lathe or commonly called a "trepanner".  I helped work on putting this one together working at a shop in Houston when going to school.  And yes, it was a little awarkard chucking up and running. Picture was taken in Brazil, where the machine went to.  Years later it made a trip back here to Navasota, Texas.  Definitly not your average homeshop machine tool!


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## n3480h (Jan 22, 2013)

Right hand, left hand.  For the first couple months I was convinced my lathe was female.  Then I learned how to talk to it, and how to handle the controls.  We get along much better now.:lmao:

Tom


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## llarson (Jan 22, 2013)

I ran a Clausing Colchester for several years that was controlled "conventionally" on the carriage, then ran one a few times [same basic machine, same size] set up like the one pictured below; made me nuts. Teacher in trade school took great delight in ribbing me about being left-handed, said I'd never make it as a machinist because I did everything backwards.


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## darkzero (Jan 23, 2013)

I too would call the lathe configuration were are used to right handed. As someone mentioned, where all the precision work controlled by the cross slide & compund slide with the right hand, I agree with that. I could not imagine doing this with my left hand. Although there are cases where I do use my left hand for the cross slide but it not for precise controlling, threading for example, the attention has to be on the half nut lever & is why I use my right hand. Can't imagine using the half nut lever with my left. My carriage wheel is on the left but I use my right hand to turn it too as well as my left at times.

I once called the lathes with the carriage wheel on the right & half nut on the left & leftie lathe & I was told that is not true. The argument was that lathes are not designated for left or right hand. A true leftie lathe would have the headstock on the right & most cutting would then be cut from left to right. Well I didn't see it that way & hey, what do I know. :lmao:

It was also said that having the carriage wheel on the right is actually better for gap lathes so there's no change of the carriage wheel gear falling into the gap. I've never removed my gap so I can relate on how true this is. I figured if you are turning somthing that large in dia to use the gap, chances are with the width of the chuck, tool post, cutter, etc, that carriage wheel gears would not need to come that close to fallinto the gap.


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## TRX (Jan 24, 2013)

>cross slide

 Uh, where do you stand when you're running a lathe?

 I stand between the carriage and tailstock; other than what's on the tailstock, all controls are on the left.


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## HSS (Jan 24, 2013)

tripletap3 said:


> Ray C said:
> 
> 
> > I'm having a hard time visualizing what this means... You mean they put the carriage crank on the right side of the apron controls? -Yeah, I could see a few weeks worth of screwed-up parts there.
> ...


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## 4GSR (Jan 24, 2013)

Here's a lathe that will allow you to work both ends of a part in one chucking.

This lathe was built for the government to machine details on gun barrels.  When the government got tired of them, the oilfield bought them to use for machining drilling tools and similar stuff.  I had the oppurinty to do some modification work on one of these several years back in Houston.


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