Hi Hal

Hal there are a few good uses for reverse direction lathe uses, most
common is the sanding in both directions, it gives a better result than
sanding in only one direction, there's the oddball that thinks it makes
no difference, however a sandpaper is a cutting tool, and if used
properly it does cut the wood not merely lay the wood fibers down, like
a wood plane will lift and grab the wood when going against the grain
so will sharp sandpaper lift the wood fibers and then cut it off.

Hollowing on the back side is another use, I have used this when
working over the ways, though I hollow turn almost exclusively
outboard, but there are times I am not able to do this.

Another use is when thread tapping, after tapping into the work-piece
one can reverse and take the tap back out, much faster than hand
turning the tap back out.

As for the hand wheel, yes that is handy to have, like hand turning the
work-piece for inspection or just to slow down the lathe faster, or to
hold the lathe shaft while spinning a chuck or faceplate on or off, a
left hand threaded rod and plug that fit the morse taper in the
headstock and a turned hand wheel on the outside would be one way to go
about it.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo
http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum28.html


wrote:
Greetings!
Another newbie question....My lathe has a switch for forward and
reverse direction (yep...It changes the direction of rotation of the
stock...)

FWIW, there is no shaft on the "other" end of the headstock....

Could anyone enlighten me as to when I might actually use this feature?
Thanks!

Hal