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Seated turning

H

Hal Taylor

Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
86
Likes
7
Location
Greenwood, SC
I been transitioning to seated turning due to leg muscle weakness. Obviously, all the standing turning “rules” - shifting your weight as you swing to turn the outside of a bowl, secure the gouge to your gut, lathe height, etc., cannot apply to seated turning. I’m sure there are many more experienced seated turners than I am who could help with seated turning “newbies”. Also, placement of equipment and supplies will help too. I know of a few seated turners, but I am sure there are many of us. Could we “combine forces” and help out each other? Chris Grace, in a recent AAW Journal, has attempted to get the ball rolling, and I applaud his efforts. So let’s get on the bandwagon with him. The WIT have made great strides with their organizing so perhaps seated turners can do the same.
 
Hal Taylor said:
let’s get on the bandwagon with him. The WIT have made great strides with their organizing so perhaps seated turners can do the same.
Click to expand...

the AAW has 3 virtual chapters that were formed thematically around a common interest.
They meet mostly through the web but do occasionally have an in person meeting or mini-symposium:
Principally pens
Ornamental turners international
Segmented Woodturners​

The AAW has two committees that serve segments of the membership.
POP - professional outreach program
WIT - Women in Turning​

you might consider forming a virtual chapter. You will need a web page and eventually have to write bylaws(AAW has a boiler plate).
Since the Tampa symposium in 2013 the AAW has had a turning with Disabilities panel discussion at the AAW symposium.
 
Gerald Lawrence said:
Look at AAW website not sure you can get to this if not a member https://www.woodturner.org/Woodturn...spx?hkey=2f35ffee-b563-468f-8601-ab212c4ef2f9

Another way to get there is Communities-----Specialty Programs------Turning with Physical Limitations

May not have all the answers there but will give you a start.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gerald for your reply. I am an AAW member and aware of the Specialty Programs. My aim was to increase interest in the seated turning community.
 
I suggest we create a place to discuss turning with physical limitations on these forums. That could be a forum in its own right, or a sub-forum of Tutorials and Tips.

I suggest T&T rather than Health and Safety, because while the cause of the limitation may have been a health issue the solution will come from technique and technology.

I think the subject of physical limitations should be broadly inclusive.
 
As we age, slow down, eat more...joints and muscles complain...should be a way to sit and enjoy turning...or maybe partially sit on a tall stool. Sooner or later your mind wanders down this well-trod path, only to run into barriers. Some just give up...some persist in searching for a workable solution.....my bet is this group is persistent. We know "the seat" needs to be height adjustable...lots of options there. It needs to articulate side to side, front to back, and swing in combination...while remaining stable...as in not tipping all the way over and dumping our big butts in the shavings. Maybe some sort of tractor seat on a large coil spring attached to a heavy base...or a bicycle seat on a stout shaft secured to a heavy base with a ball and socket joint...or a scrap piece of 2X10 on a pole stuck into a rounded hole in the floor....ideas anyone??
 
Mark Jundanian said:
I suggest we create a place to discuss turning with physical limitations on these forums. That could be a forum in its own right, or a sub-forum of Tutorials and Tips.

I suggest T&T rather than Health and Safety, because while the cause of the limitation may have been a health issue the solution will come from technique and technology.

I think the subject of physical limitations should be broadly inclusive.
Click to expand...
I rarely check out the Health and Safety forum, and I suspect most seated turners don’t either. Searching for “seated” on that forum yields no hits. I think, as you stated, those of us who do turn seated may participate in a forum like “turning with disabilities”. It would be more identifiable, although “disabilities” may be a turn off.
 
John Torchick said:
I had no cartilage in my right knee. I either have to sit or quit. I would like to see a T&T section addressing this issue for sharing solutions, etc. One might not have a HF close but I recall seeing this in an advertising flyer.
https://www.harborfreight.com/adjus...krest-64499.html?_br_psugg_q=adjustable+stool
Click to expand...
John, I have found if one is truly a seated turner one needs wheels - wheelchair, stool, chair, etc. A stool with out wheels would be good for standing/seated turner who has more capabilities.
 
I haven't been to find it anywhere, but remember seeing a Brunswick chair made for bowling alley tables. It was mounted on a knuckle joint (my name for it anyway, on a pole, bolted to the floor, and kind of like a thrust bearing around the pole) and the chair pivoted in an arc, which to me would be perfect for bowl turning if you were seated. I would think a seat on a track of some sort could be nice for turning spindles.... There could be many adaptations....

robo hippy
 
Hal Taylor said:
John, I have found if one is truly a seated turner one needs wheels - wheelchair, stool, chair, etc. A stool with out wheels would be good for standing/seated turner who has more capabilities.
Click to expand...
Didn't notice the absence of wheels. Wheels would depend on the needs of individual turners. Good point.
 
robo hippy said:
I haven't been to find it anywhere, but remember seeing a Brunswick chair made for bowling alley tables. It was mounted on a knuckle joint (my name for it anyway, on a pole, bolted to the floor, and kind of like a thrust bearing around the pole) and the chair pivoted in an arc, which to me would be perfect for bowl turning if you were seated. I would think a seat on a track of some sort could be nice for turning spindles.... There could be many adaptations....

robo hippy
Click to expand...
Check with a restaurant supply house. They should have a number of furniture suppliers who have swivel seats. Allows an easier way to get up and down from a table.
Edit- here is a good link. Take your pick.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=artic...-18&sk=&cvid=04600E6DBECC43A281EAE14DF3D5E46C
 
Last edited:
Hal Taylor said:
I rarely check out the Health and Safety forum, and I suspect most seated turners don’t either. Searching for “seated” on that forum yields no hits. I think, as you stated, those of us who do turn seated may participate in a forum like “turning with disabilities”. It would be more identifiable, although “disabilities” may be a turn off.
Click to expand...

The name of this forum used to be Turning With Disabilities and it probably got one or two posts per year. In discussions with Alan Zenreich and others to increase member participation, we decided that the focus was too narrow and after much thought, the scope was expanded to include all health and safety issues. If you read the STICKY at the top of the Woodturning Health & Safety Forum, it explains the expanded scope.
 
Hmm, not the type of chair/seat I saw at all. The swivel joint was on the vertical post of the table, and that whole arm the seat was on would swing around a table that was about 30 inch diameter. Not mounted on a floor joint. Like I said, I couldn't find any pictures of it... I will look again.

robo hippy
 
I have 4 steel rods in my lower back and can't stand for more than a few minutes, I use a computer chair with Rollerblade wheels on it I can roll side to side very easy. Its not perfect but it let's me do what I love to do to enjoy my hobby
 
robo hippy said:
Hmm, not the type of chair/seat I saw at all. The swivel joint was on the vertical post of the table, and that whole arm the seat was on would swing around a table that was about 30 inch diameter. Not mounted on a floor joint. Like I said, I couldn't find any pictures of it... I will look again.

robo hippy
Click to expand...
I have seen restaurant seating like that. Pivots around so it's easier to get up from the table. Can't remember the manufacturer.
 
hockenbery said:
the AAW has 3 virtual chapters that were formed thematically around a common interest.
They meet mostly through the web but do occasionally have an in person meeting or mini-symposium:
Principally pens
Ornamental turners international
Segmented Woodturners​

The AAW has two committees that serve segments of the membership.
POP - professional outreach program
WIT - Women in Turning​

you might consider forming a virtual chapter. You will need a web page and eventually have to write bylaws(AAW has a boiler plate).
Since the Tampa symposium in 2013 the AAW has had a turning with Disabilities panel discussion at the AAW symposium.
Click to expand...
Hal,

if you’re interested in Ornamental Turning, the Ornamental Turning Book of Knowledge was built to help the starter.
 
I use a computer chair with Rollerblade wheels on it I can roll side to side very easy. Its not perfect but it let's me do what I love to do to enjoy my hobby.
Could you share a photo of your chair? Sounds very interesting.
 
I don't do any searching here or any other forum. Did it show up on the link? No idea why that is showing up. Haven't been in LA or SD in over 26 years.
Admin, anything that is causing this?
 
Roger Williams said:
I use a computer chair with Rollerblade wheels on it I can roll side to side very easy. Its not perfect but it let's me do what I love to do to enjoy my hobby
Click to expand...

Roger, how well does the chair move when the chips have begun to accumulate? If you do have a pic, I'd be interested to see how big the wheels are.

@Hal Taylor , everyone's limitations being different, do you have the strength in your lower extremities to move yourself around in a desk chair?
 
robo hippy said:
Hmm, not the type of chair/seat I saw at all. The swivel joint was on the vertical post of the table, and that whole arm the seat was on would swing around a table that was about 30 inch diameter. Not mounted on a floor joint. Like I said, I couldn't find any pictures of it... I will look again.

robo hippy
Click to expand...
I do remember those...in mid-century bowling alleys...man, we're old! But the concept might work...sort of a heavier duty version of the swing away light platform.
 
The base was fixed but the seat was on an arm that would swing out from under the table.
Bill, who said we were old? We are seasoned citizens!:p
 
Hal Taylor said:
I use a computer chair with Rollerblade wheels on it I can roll side to side very easy. Its not perfect but it let's me do what I love to do to enjoy my hobby
Click to expand...
Could you share a photo of your chair? Sounds very interesting.[/QUOTE]
Hal...thought to check out your website...when clicked on, goes to Scott Borris...??
 
@Hal Taylor , everyone's limitations being different, do you have the strength in your lower extremities to move yourself around in a desk chair?[/QUOTE]

I do have enough strength in my legs to maneuver a desk chair, thankfully, plus using my arms. It’s the getting up and sitting down that’s the problem just now. I’ve tried to come up with a design that has wheels big enough to handle a bit of shavings on the floor.
 
Back in my High School days we had drafting tables with a swing out seat. The seat was attached to the table with a cast iron bracket with a pivoted arm that had an adjustable seat (acme screw thread) at the end.

Even then in the 1950's we could not get parts for the broken seats made in the 1930's but we had a pattern making shop, a foundry and machine shop so we made replacements. (Brooklyn Tech HS)

The seats sort of worked for drafting but the motion was limited to an arc so it may work for the outside of a bowl (pivot point on the left) it would not be practical for anything else that was large or long.

Stu
 
Since Robust has developed a lathe specifically for seated turning, perhaps they have also gotten feedback on what the seat options might be. Good folks, good engineering. Why don't you contact Brent and ask?
 
Mark Jundanian said:
Roger, how well does the chair move when the chips have begun to accumulate? If you do have a pic, I'd be interested to see how big the wheels are.


@Hal Taylor , everyone's limitations being different, do you have the strength in your lower extremities to move yourself around in a desk chair?
Click to expand...
I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner but had a family sickness to look after. My chair moves really well with the chips, but I have to sayim usually not turning anything real big nothing over 12" just can't handle anything over that size with my disability. With the roller blade wheels it rolls real freely. ill try to get apicture for you. HAL yes I can move it easily the roller blade wheels are really free moving. I tried just regular swivel wheels but they were real hard tomove around with
 
One of the turners at our London Ont. turning guild did turn seated at times, I'm not there anymore, but have a picture of him turning on a Sit-down Lathe, and he has a sturdy wheeled Office chair, looks pretty stable and gives one the ability to manoeuvre around it looks like.


SitDownLathe.jpg
 
Roger Williams said:
That is what I use all the time since I have a disability. I just changed out the wheels for roller blade wheel, really made a big difference
Click to expand...
How do you manage shavings? Roller blade wheels come as plain wheels with a bearing, and not with the post that casters often have. How did you make the roller blade wheels work on your chair?

Roller blade and skate board wheels are readily available at skate shops locally and online.
 
Woodcraft and Rockler both carry skate wheel type casters.

I know I've seen a two page spread of casters in some woodworking catalogue in the past, but can't put my finger on it. I got no hits at Craft asupply or Packard.
 
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