How important is posture for turning?

[robo hippy]

After Bill's comments about health and turning, I was pondering that while swimming laps in the pool. You do have a lot of time to ponder things.... Just how important is it to stand up straight? Being a swimmer, everything is about reducing drag. This mostly comes as body position, which is posture, plain and simple. To have good "posture" in the water, we need good core engagement, which as one Speedo coach said, "Suck in your gut like you are trying to put your belly button on your spine!" When we were young, we didn't have to think about sucking in our guts, it just happened naturally. As we get older, we tend to "relax" a lot more. All of that "relaxing" means that our body has to "compensate", which to means lower back problems, sciatica, and other ailments can be a result of bad posture while standing at the lathe and turning. I keep wondering if and/or how much this bad posture contributes to those aches and pains we get while turning.... Comments?

robo hippy

 

[John Torchick]

For me, it's the pressure on my knees, even the new one from last year. I have learned to turn while sitting on a swivel stool. Bent over a power tool for an extended time could cause back problems over time, IMO.

 

[hughie]

Much depends on the height of the lathe, from my personal view the elbow height indicator is too low. If we have a posture that aligns the ears, shoulders and hips on a reasonably wide foot stance we should be able to turn as long as we want, providing we turn with our body. Also, if there are no prevailing health issues, if so, the turner may have to look at a specialised lathe set up.
So my lathe is higher by the length of upper arm i.e. elbow to arm pit, once I had done this life on the lathe was and is far more comfortable. OK, I turn mainly closed bowls and hollow vessels
I am fortunate I can stand on a concrete floor all day with minimalist footwear, I often turn in the summer in flip-flops and occasionally turn bare-footed, but then the climate here allows a wide leeway to do such things. OK there maybe safety issues with this, but I have been at the lathe for over 20 years almost daily and have developed a good ear to what is happening, plus the habit of not being in a direct line to what I am turning. Hollowing its largely done from the tailstock end.
But then or for me, most of my working life was spent on my feet moving around, rarely sitting for long. Those who have had a more sedentary working life may need to look at posture carefully.

 

[Kevin Jesequel]

Much depends on the height of the lathe, from my personal view the elbow height indicator is too low.

I agree 100%. I initially set up my first lathe with the spindle at elbow height. As I got into freehand hollowing I felt it was too low, so I raised it an inch. That was much better for hollowing, but what really surprised me was the instantly noticeable relief in my back when working between centers.

 

[John K Jordan]

I keep wondering if and/or how much this bad posture contributes to those aches and pains we get while turning.... Comments?

I can't remember any aches (back, lets, neck, shoulders, etc) at the lathe. I do move a lot when turning. However I have problems with hand cramps, especially with small, detailed things, not only at the lathe or carving. I wonder if I'm gripping tools too tightly or tensing up. Doing something different for a while helps with the cramps. As does a hand massager.

 

[Richard Coers]

Staying limber and relaxed is more critical than posture. Lots of jobs require people to be bent over. In some Japanese factories, they start shifts with exercise to limber up and warm muscles up. Ellsworth was always an advocate of stretching muscles and warming up.

 

[Sam Force]

I've had a lot of neck, shoulder issues lately that have kept me from doing ,much turning. My lathe is spindle height at the elbows, I'm starting to think it is too low. It use to be higher but for some reason I lowered it. Thinking now that might have been a mistake. I've had a dozen PT appointments and got some relief but still not right

 

[Steve Tiedman]

I'm definitely not one to practice what I preach here (as I note below), but I've been told by PTs and docs that core muscle strength up front goes far to support what happens at your back. Not a chiseled 6-pack, but abdominal muscle groups being fit and firm do a lot for spine support. Then there is lower and upper back muscle fitness and lower body fitness, another subject altogether...

Lathe height- for 20-some years, my lathes have been at elbow height. But it depends where you measure that height. Tip of elbow with a loose hanging arm? Not for me.

With regular shop footwear on my feet, feet located below my hips, and hanging my arm to my side, I bend my lower arm up to 90°, parallel to the floor. Then I (or better yet a helper) measure from the floor to the inside bend of my elbow, right where to top surface of my forearm meets that 90° bend of my arm. (Or stand with your bent arm along a wall and use a pencil held level to make a tick mark of the height on the wall.) This height is somewhat higher (up to several inches depending on the beefcake build of your arms) than elbow tip of a relaxed hanging arm. But, this is the height limit for me- any higher, and although it may feel good to my lower back, tool control becomes sacrificed- wrists have to bend harder and shoulders hunch upward to maintain tool control. Not good.

Arm girth- if you're someone with big, muscular arms (I'd say I'm a fella of average build, with too much foam can cooler around an empty 6-pack!), you may want to temper the notion of going as high as I describe. Start there, but lower the lathe incrementally if the height doesn't work for those big guns of yours. Maybe start at the point of where the center of the elbow joint is located with the 90° bent arm, and go up or down from there. (All of this is just guesswork based on my personal experience. I'm no expert in body mechanics.)

There is no one-size-fits-all method to any of this. Your arms, from shoulder to wrist, may be longer or shorter. Your upper arm specifically may be longer or shorter, affecting the universal notion of elbow-to-spindle relationship. Get this measurement from both arms- maybe you naturally tilt to one side or the other, affecting the results. Only you will know what is right for your body, and that will take a bit of experimentation.

 

[Doug Freeman]

However I have problems with hand cramps, especially with small, detailed things, not only at the lathe or carving. I wonder if I'm gripping tools too tightly or tensing up. Doing something different for a while helps with the cramps. As does a hand massager.

Could well be some carpal tunnel starting to creep in. Look up stretches for it.