# Lathe Rotation CW vs CCW



## oskar (Oct 16, 2018)

The rotation on my mini Taig lathe and mill is CW (looking on the lathe from the tail stock and on the mill from the top) but in another thread here it was mentioned the rotation should be CCW.

Looking at some YouTube videos the Taig lathe chuck turns CW.

What is the reason(s) the rotation must be CCW?

Nicolas


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## BaronJ (Oct 16, 2018)

Hi Oskar,

Think about it a moment !  Which way up do you put your lathe tool ?
Cutting edge up or cutting edge down.

Conventionally a lathe chuck turns anti clockwise looking from the tailstock at the chuck.  This means that the tool in the tool holder will have its cutting edge face up, (at the top).  If your lathe runs the other way, it would mean that you would have to put the tool upside down, cutting edge face down, (at the bottom).  This would also mean that you would need to use a right hand lathe tool.  Because if you just turned a normal tool upside down the cutting edge would face away from the chuck, and you wouldn't be able to cut anything.

Now there are special occasions when you might have to do things like this, but few and far between.


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## dlane (Oct 16, 2018)

On a lathe ccw rotation keeps the saddle pushing down on the ways  , if it was cw it would try to lift it .
On the mill cw is the normal rotation for a standard  endmill to cut.


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## RJSakowski (Oct 16, 2018)

oskar said:


> The rotation on my mini Taig lathe and mill is CW (looking on the lathe from the tail stock and on the mill from the top) but in another thread here it was mentioned the rotation should be CCW.
> 
> Looking at some YouTube videos the Taig lathe chuck turns CW.
> 
> ...


Be careful watching videos.  A strobe effect from the camera will give the illusion the rotation is opposite from what it actually is.  This effect is readily seen in videos of vehicles moving past.  

The standard convention for lathe operation is ccw rotation when viewed from the tailstock (cw viewed from the headstock).  The standard convention for mills is cw rotation when viewed from above.  Almost all milling cutters require cw rotation in order to cut. There are a few exceptions for special cases.

As previously stated, if cutting from the front of the lathe with the cutting edge facing up, rotation must be ccw as viewed from the tailstock.  You can run the spindle cw if you come into your work from the back of the lathe.  I sometimes do that in special circumstances.  You can also turn your tool with the cutting side down, cutting from the front, and run cw but this can  be a problem for tool alignment if using a 4 way tool post or a QCTP.


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## oskar (Oct 16, 2018)

Apologies guys, my bad; lathe and mill turn as they should.

I only have my jig since last June and used the lathe very little, mill is the most used. Since I only have one motor which I switch between the two just now I switched the motor to the lathe and she turns CCW. Mill turns CW.

Very little experience here and lots to learn. Sorry about it


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## Norseman C.B. (Oct 16, 2018)

If'n ya don't ask questions ya don't lern nuthin......................


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## P. Waller (Oct 16, 2018)

The direction of rotation is unimportant so long as the tools used are the correct hand or held in the correct orientation.
One may drill and mill all day long with the spindle in "reverse" using drills and mills of the correct hand, one may also turn parts on a lathe in either direction of spindle rotation using suitable tools.

THERE IS NO PROPER DIRECTION aside from the one that the tooling requires.


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## kd4gij (Oct 16, 2018)

The Taig lathe is a small threaded spindle lathe. CCW is the safest direction to run that lathe.


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## dlane (Oct 16, 2018)

Don’t have a Taig but my Sb likes it when the saddle gets pushed down, not up


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## Tozguy (Oct 17, 2018)

P. Waller said:


> The direction of rotation is unimportant so long as the tools used are the correct hand or held in the correct orientation.
> One may drill and mill all day long with the spindle in "reverse" using drills and mills of the correct hand, one may also turn parts on a lathe in either direction of spindle rotation using suitable tools.
> 
> THERE IS NO PROPER DIRECTION aside from the one that the tooling requires.



Hooray for D1 spindle noses.


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## Superburban (Oct 17, 2018)

dlane said:


> Don’t have a Taig but my Sb likes it when the saddle gets pushed down, not up


Agreed, I have never seen a saddle, or bed designed to take forces pulling up on the saddle. The underside of the bed, and pieces of the saddle that keep it from coming off, are not machined, ground to the same standards as the top.


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## BaronJ (Oct 17, 2018)

Actually parting off with a rear mounted tool does cause lifting forces on the saddle and cross slide, but the cross slide is usually located more over towards the middle of the saddle when parting off this way.


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## Superburban (Oct 17, 2018)

Good point.

I never used a rear post, I always thought they were set up to use the lathe spinning in reverse. But if you think of it, all the saddles I can think of, have a more substantial piece holding the back side down, then they do on the front (if any in the front). And cutting off, is not done with the saddle moving, so not likely much chance of wear to those parts.


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## BaronJ (Oct 17, 2018)

This is my lathe !  You can see the rear parting off toolpost on the cross slide and the Norman tool holder on the top slide.


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