Lathe reverse direction

[smitty10101]

While watching some u tube videos I've noticed that often the person reverses the direction of the lathe while sanding.

Can someone enlighten me as to why?

Seems especially prevalent when turning christmas ornaments.

thks

smitty

[Stick486]

Can someone enlighten me as to why?

throws a lot of the saw dust away from you...

[smitty10101]

Can someone enlighten me as to why?

throws a lot of the saw dust away from you...

for whatever reason, I feel that there is more to it than that.
My initial thought is that they are trying to knock down the wood fibers to make it more smooth.
The other have of my brain says that it shouldn't matter all that much.

Also, I can't believe that the manufacturers give a rat's a$$ if we get covered with dust.

[Nickp]

I'm thinking the turning orients the fibers one way and sanding in reverse makes for "mo betta smoothing"...

[Stick486]

I'm thinking the turning orients the fibers one way and sanding in reverse makes for "mo betta smoothing"...

wouldn't that be ''torn'' fibers???

[DaninVan]

When we sand pretty much anything we either do a random orbit or oscillate back and forth, so we really do 'reverse direction'.
I'm guessing that reversing the lathe just replicates what we normally do. Fibres that lay down going in one direction probably get nipped off when reversing?

[Cherryville Chuck]

I think maybe it's a safety issue. The lathe turning towards you could pull your hand under. The other rotation is away from you and over the work.

[smitty10101]

I think maybe it's a safety issue. The lathe turning towards you could pull your hand under. The other rotation is away from you and over the work.

But when you're sanding on the lathe your hand & paper are (s/b) UNDER the turned piece and the rotation at that spot is away from you.

[HandyDan]

The best use of reverse on a lathe is the sanding. Wood fibers do lie down anersing the lathe picks them up and helps to break them off. Also you are sanding flat grain and end grain and it is changing as the lathe turns. It is possible to sand an oblong into your bowl and having reverse sanding capability helps to counter that. The end grain is naturally hardest to sand. It still isn't going to sand even but it helps to keep it balanced. Turning in reverse is sometimes helpful too. The use of a set screw to keep the chuck from unthreading in reverse is advised. Check out YouTube for various videos. Power sanding with a drill is also done in both directions.

[Herb Stoops]

That is why I don't turn,because I didn't know that, also don't have a lathe.
HErb

[Cherryville Chuck]

I just saw this in my emails, using a block plane to smooth your spindle. It appears that the lathe is turning away from the blade but that must be an optical illusion. It wouldn't cut that way. It looks like Mario is using a version of the Stanley 110 which is a low angle, bevel up block plane. https://www.finewoodworking.com/2021/08 ... -the-lathe

[HandyDan]

The lathe is turning the normal direction. He ended up with a pretty rough surface and started sanding with 100 grit. I wonder why he doesn't just use a skew or skew the plane while cutting. When I do spindles it is common for me to just hit it with some 220 grit and done. The skew leaves a very smooth surface.