Left Handed Lumberjocks

Working on a right-handed traditional woodworking bench (i.e., tail vise on the right, shoulder vise on the left) is a frustration. That’s why I’ve designed a left-handed bench that reverses the position of the two vises.

-- Earle Wright, Lenoir City, Tennessee

Being right handed I sometimes feel sorry for you lefties. They should make more tools for you guys.

Things like screwdrivers, hammers, handsaws, chisels and so fourth. Even little things like pencils. :-)

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

What’s the problem with a fork and spoon??? Or those pesky knives? You guys need to conform. Of course, I can say that knowing that someday soon I won’t be a part-time left-hander. :-)

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

I finally found out why you’re grumpy!

Took long enough. You think that’s what’s been bothering my brother all these years?

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Fortunately for me I am more ambidextrous. Writing is more comfortable left handed, but most other tasks I can do with my right hand.

I’m left handed but I prefer a right handed circular saw. I like being about to peek over the blade to see where I’m cutting.

-- It's better to have people think you're stupid rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

I am the same with the right handed circular saw. I like to see the cut line. The cordless drill is a constant source of irritation. I am always grabbing my old makita for that reason, underpowered as it is. The plate jointer bugs me some as well. I have gotten out of plenty of work for the lack of left handed shovels and rakes. I know they make left handed tape measures but haven’t bought one yet.

Mart

All the years that I’ve been working wood (left handed), I’ve decided that some of the things that I know were made for right handed people just don’t make sense. Take the table saw for instance. Why would you cross cut a board with the miter gauge on the left of the blade? You’ve got all of that wood(the part you want to keep) hanging over the left side of the saw and the small little cut off has up to 3 feet of table top to support it. I don’t know if it’s a lefty thing, but I’ve always used my miter gauge on the right side of the blade, so it was supported by the large part of the table.
I’ve taught a few people that art of wood working and I’m proud to say, I taught them to do it from the lefty point of view.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Gary, thats a good idea of yours. They could also make left handed plumb bobs & left handed axe handles.LOL

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Betsy, a lefty (or lots of us) hold a spoon in their left hand. The fork is also held in the left hand, as in knife & fork!.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

It’s those damned scissors!!!!

I agree with Mike about circular saws. To me, a right handed circular saw makes perfect sense for a lefty.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Lee, I am glad I am a lefty, its just old age that’s made me grumpy.LOL

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I’ve learned to work with either left or right handed tools. I use my left hand only for writing and very fine control on hand tools.

-- If we learn from our mistakes, I'm getting a fantastic education.

One advantage of being a lefty, I use my right hand to control the computer mouse & my left to write & key with.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I’m so confused. What is it about a biscuit jointer or a cordless drill that is frustrating for a lefty? They are almost completely symmetrical. The only difference I can see on the biscuit jointer is the dust collection port and the only difference I can see on the cordless drill is the direction you push the switch to reverse it.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Blake, I’m not sure about the drill thing either….. I can see where it might be a factor depending on the design of the particular model.

The dust port on the biscuit joiner may not seem like much, but if you don’t believe it matters, try using it both ways, without the bag, and see what happens. If you hold the handle in your right hand, you’ll be standing to the left of the machine and debris will blow right past you. Hold it in your left hand, and the dust blows straight into you.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Being a lefty never seemed to slow David Marks down any.

I’m a bit ambidexerous. I cut on a table saw using my left hand and stand to the right. Come to think of it I cut with a circular saw left handed very often.

My sister is left handed. I tell her she can probably get a handicapped pass for her car for that.

-- JB

being lefthanded i find all tools are are designed for right handed people so heres my rant all you righties stuff you lol you should try cutting timber striaght with a hand saw

or you all may think i’m just crap at sawing timber full stop lol!!!!

-- cut it saw it scrap it

Agreed. I’ve always liked that circular saws are made for righties because I can see the line when I cut with mine.
And I modified my bandsaw for left handed usage.
And my drill press is not a problem. I use my left hand for fine adjustment of the wood and my right hand just works the quill up and down, something really simple that left mindedness can easily control.

Being lefthanded gave me the ability to see that there are myriad ways of overcoming the pseudo-control that the righties want to put on us. Righties, on the other hand, are stuck with what they always had.

My $.03

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

that’s funny Tim. My little ones a lefty so I’m becoming aware of things that may, or may not even bug her. But as for the Table Saw, I (as a righty) find working on the left of the fence much more comfortable. My FIL seems to prefer the right (as a righty) and I can’t see why.

dust collection on the biscuit joiner seems bad for lefties, but the cordless drill? my Makita LiIon seems pertecty symmetrical. not so the old corded B&D though.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

I write and eat right handed and everything else is lefty , all tools . I also like using right handed circular saws . Being left handed as a framer was never a issue . Now i hammer with both hands .

-- John in Cranbrook http://www.extremebirdhouse.com ....http://community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2

I’ve written this here somewhere before, but as right handed person I like Left handed circular saws for the same reason you lefites like a right handed one.

Go figure?

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Nothing wrong being a lefty, just goes to show what we can accomplish!.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Blake,

The issue with the cordless drill is that when one is using it in an awkward position, such as on a ladder with a sheet of 5/8×12’ sheetrock over head and reaching out to shoot in a screw and you bump that selector into neutral or reverse with the knuckle of the left hand. Or having a couple pieces of wood held in just the right but awkward position and drill get bumped out of forward. It can be very exasperating. Maybe I am too sensitive. This never happens when I use my old Makita 9.6 but it really lacks power.

As for the plate jointer the only one I have experience with is the Dewalt whose bag or vac attachment makes the chip discharge chute too small creating plugs which end up kicking out the front defeating the purpose of either. Try running one with your left hand without the bag or vac and you will see what I mean. Chips all up and down the front of you. I would like to take full advantage of my dust handling system. What I need is a plate jointer that won’t plug up when using the bag or vac attachment but don’t know which one would fill the bill.

I never seem to have a problem with the TS, jointer or drill press. I have long since learned to read a tape upside down. They make left handed ones but I have never had one. What I won’t have in my shop is the tapes with the metric scale on the opposite side of the rule. Makes me about goofy to try to read.

Whenever my contractor buddy (right handed) has a framing job to do he always gets me to run trusses with him because we can each work one side of the structure without having to hammer backwards. Chop saws force me to work right handed.

It may not seem like a big deal, especially to right handed people or the fortunate ambidextrous, but in my case I am so left handed it hurts. It becomes somewhat of a safety issue with some tools when a degree of dexterity is required to operate them effectively. I would challenge right handers to work left handed for a day. It might be an eye opener.

Mart

I’m ambidexerous, so it’s alllllllllll good…. lol…

Grumpy, I was going to mail you some pre-school writing tablets to teach you how to be a righty, but then you said you were grumpy due to old age. Sorry, Bro… I’ve got nothing for that category… lol…

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

I had no idea that lefties faced so many obstacles in life. Humm glad I am right handed.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

If you gave your left arm, your right arm would be left…

I’m a leftie, but martial arts training and a home-renovation apprenticeship as a kid gave me the necessary ambi-education. I can know do almost anything with either hand, from scribing to cutting a CVC crown prep, to using a circular saw (this one I prefer to use as a leftie, for the same reasons listed above by other south-paws).

Heck, for the longest time, I used a table saw with the fence to the left, thinking this was normal…LOL…

-- Living on the square...

Steve, Grumpyness comes with old age. you will know all about it one day.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I am glad to see there are a few lefties ‘left’ in the world. It would’nt be the same place without us.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Well, I too am left handed but quite ambidextrous too. Hand operated power tools, particularly circular saws and drill motors have always driven me crazy and a couple have even posed a safety hazard. Particularly those that required the depression of a “safety” button before allowing the trigger to be pulled. I’ve had a circular saw for over 25 years that I changed the switch to a non-”safety” switch. Even though I’ve purchased a few new circular saws over the years I keep going back to that one.
And by the way…...the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body; the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, so; left-handed people are the only ones in their right mind.

-- David, O.C., California

Interesting thought on the right mind bit david but don’t tell the righties. LOL

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

My wife is left handed and it drives me nuts to watch her prepare food in the kitchen, it looks very dangerous and wrong from my right handed point of view, so I couldn’t imagine her in the shop.
I think there should be more tools for lefty’s for safety sake alone.

-- Frank Auge---Nichols NY----"My opinion is neither copyrighted nor trademarked, but it is price competitive."

Speaking of safety switch . . . my Dewalt 18v circular saw’s safety button can be pushed from either direction. I wonder was this planned for you weird . . . er . . . left handed people. :-)

-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

ScottB- LOL…

Grumpy- I’ll keep looking for some righty pills for you… there still may be hope… lol

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

GaryK wrote about Left handled pencils. I must have bought a bunch of them becuse the lead keeps breaking each time I go to use them. I must be holding them the wrong way.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

i’m a lefty and I have the darndest time with those right handed light switches and door knobs. sometimes bad enough to make a guy drink a beer.
Karson I agree with the pencils they put the eraser on the wrong end so when a lefty tries to use them it puts too much stress on the lead in the wrong direction and pow it breaks.
I do like my right handed skil saw I like to watch the blade and line.

-- Jim in Cushing Oklahoma

I say we all go to our government officials and insist they rewrite the laws to include us in the equal rights amendment. We have had to adapt to the discrimination of a right-handed world. No wonder all the world’s genuises are lefties. Dealing with the handicap has made us superior! :)

But kidding aside, if it weren’t that we are such easy-going, likeable people :), we could get pretty disgusted at the obvious discrimination. Even coffee mugs are virtually always printed with pictures or advertising for the right hander to read. Imprinted pencils and pens always have the message for the right hander.

I dislike having to use a library computer because I have to rearrange all the cords to get the mouse on the left so I can use it (and when the grommet with the cords is on the right side, it can be downright impossible to get the mouse where I can use it). The tray table under the keyboard for the mouse is always locked to the right, and I can’t make the mouse do anything with my right hand! Whenever a cashier hands over a receipt to sign, it is always for the right hander. (I don’t use that hand-over-the-top, back-hand stance for writing; I turn my paper the opposite direction.)

In the shop, I agree with the other lefties. Some tools are downright dangerous. I have difficulty (since I’m a lightweight [wimp] also) in pushing in the “continuous on” button on some tools since it’s in the way of my hand. I set my belt sander upside down, press it in and then grab it and turn it over—not too safe, but it’s the only way I can get it turned on. Sometimes I hit that button accidently on the corded drill; it’s not as difficult to push in.

I’ve learned to compensate in the right-handed world—to the point where I virtually always pick up a pair of scissors, putting my thumb through the finger opening, and one finger through the thumb opening. Then a friend accidently bought a pair of left-handed scissors and gave them to me. They are really uncomfortable when I pick them up that way!

Amazingly enough, many people know me for years before they notice that I’m left handed, so I must not look all that clumsy working backwards.

LEFT-HANDEDNESS—It’s a handicap of which I’m proud!!

-- "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6

Whew, thats a lot of angst lightweightladyleftie. But the true test is the rigthies can’t tell us apart until we let them know we are lefties.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Karson, you should buy decent pencils. I don’t have that problem.LOL

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Steve, maybe a beer or two would fix the problem. We might all become ambidextrous after a few pints.LOL

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

LOL…

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

Not angst, Grumpy. Didn’t you know that another enigma associated with female left-handedness is loquaciousness?! :)

-- "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6

LOL, people saying that some righties don’t notice we’re left handed reminded me of a racquetball tournament I won a lot of years (and pounds) ago. I was playing in the finals against someone that never bothered to notice I was left handed…... he kept serving to my forehand, right in the sweet spot. It wasn’t until I was about three points from winning that he finally looked at me in utter amazement and said “D…., your playing left handed!!!!”. I politely told him I had been playing that way the entire tournament. In some situation we should probably let those righties know sooner….......

-- David, O.C., California

lightweightladyleftie, huh!!!

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I have a left handed hammer

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

and there was me thinking i was the only leftie in the world i’m so glad i’m not so a big HI to all the left handed lumberjocks out there

andy

ps maybe we should start our own union on lumberjocks lol…....

-- cut it saw it scrap it

I have found in my sixty odd years that being a leftie has made me a lot better person in many ways. I have had to adjust to the right handed world. When working under the hood of an automobile, I don’t have to change body positions just the hand. I play most all sports left or right handed. I challenge righties to live in our world. We are far better off than them.

-- Bill - If I knew GRANDKIDS were so much fun I would have had them first.

Hi to you as well Andy, keep that left side of the brain in tune. You never know we might convert all those righties to lefties. On second thought do we need to???.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Bhack, Great philosophy there. You are right many lefties play right & left handed sport me included.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

As you said, we lefties create and do with the RIGHT side of our brains. I feel bad for the righties who have to live with what’s LEFT of their brains.

-- Smile. Life can be FUN!

Lets not get too nasty Woodrat, we all have to live in the same world!.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python