Wood Turning : POSITION OF THE OPERATOR – HOLDING THE TOOLS – THE ROUGHING CUT (LARGE GOUGE)
“Wood Turning”
POSITION OF THE OPERATOR
The Wood Turning operator stands firmly on the floor back far enough from the lathe to allow him to pass the tools from right to left in front of his body without changing the position of the feet. It may be found convenient to turn slightly, 
bringing the left side of the body a little closer to the lathe. In no case, however, should the tools be brought in contact with the body as the cutting operation from right to left should be accomplished by a movement of the arms alone and not the swaying of the body.
HOLDING THE TOOLS
All tools should be held firmly but not rigidly. The right hand should grasp the handle at the extreme end for two reasons: first, to give as much leverage as possible so that the tool will not be thrown from the hands in case it should catch in the wood; second, a slight wavering of the hand will not cause as much variance in the cuts as when held closer up to the rest. The left hand should act as a guide and should be held over the tool near the cutting edge.
The little finger and the back part of the palm of the hand should touch the tool rest thus assuring a steady movement. The left hand should not grasp the tool at any time.
THE ROUGHING CUT (LARGE GOUGE)
Place the gouge on the rest so that the level is above the wood and the cutting edge is tangent to the circle or surface of the cylinder. The handle should be held well down.
Roll the gouge over slightly to the right so that it will make a shearing cut instead of a scraping cut. This rolling of the tool will also throw the chips from the operator.
Then lift the handle slowly, forcing the cutting edge deep enough into the wood to remove all or nearly all of the corners, at the end of the work which is being turned.
This cut is begun about ¾” from the dead center end. Work back another ¾”, moving toward the live center and make a second cut, and so on until the entire length of the cylinder is gone over. This method of removing corners should always be followed to avoid any possibility of breaking a large sliver from the stock, with consequent danger to the worker.
The tool may then be worked from one end to the other, getting a fairly-smooth, regular surface, slightly above the diameter required. However, do not begin on the very edge of the cylinder end. It is better to begin about 2″ from one end and work to the other, and then reverse and work back.
The tool should also be held at a slight angle to the axis of the cylinder, with the cutting point always in advance of the handle.
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