New guy asks what good is a reverse motor switch

[Bi11Hudson]

Nice to have if you power or even hand tap. Pop in reverse to back out the tool.

Also nice if you cut a metric thread or one where you can't use the thread indicator and have to leave the half nuts engaged. Make a pass, stop the lathe. Back out the cross feed, and reverse back to the starting position for the next pass.

Not too much of a worry when using the back gear. Not as much inertia as with open spindle.

Bruce

When I am cutting threads many of the pitches are "custom". As in not available on the QCGB of my Atlas. There are also Metric thread pitches, which are well known how to deal with. When cutting threads, any thread pitch Metric or Imperial, I use the same "system". Make the cut, stop the machine, back the tool out, reverse the machine, run the tool back in plus a few thou. Then make another pass. Doing things this way eliminates confusion while I am working and thinking about "any" other subject.

Although I don't do much surface grinding, I do have a homemade grinding rig that uses a Dremel tool for grinding. The speed difference between the spindle and the Dremel would probably make a sufficient difference. But it suits my sense of rightness to have the work turning upward while the Dremel is turning downward. A proper tool post grinder can be made to turn up, but by turning down the sparks are more controllable with a damp cloth.

Tapping is a given, especially left hand threads. I am prone to be "lazy", having the machine do the work while I operate the switches. I don't do "precision" work, I don't cut threads to "fit" standards. But if I have a die the proper size (I usually do), I single point a thread to a nominal, close enough, depth and then use a die to finish. That keeps the die true and cuts down on the "effort" to start the die correctly. Backing the die off a finished shaft is a good enough reason in itself.

There are other reasons, many of which are esoteric or convenience factors. Such as (un)winding solenoid coils. As you "grow" into your machine, you will find more and more uses for reverse rotation. My Atlas is actually a Craftsman(101.27440). It did not have a reversing switch when I acquired it, I had to finagle one. Be thankful your's does have one. You'll find a use for it eventually.
.