Which way to turn?

[Glenn]

Do lathes turn clockwise or anti-clockwise and why? Is one better than the other?

[cheftjcook]

My wood lathe turns counter clockwise. It turns into the cutting edge of the chisel as it turns...Assuming you have the motor to your left as you work. I did here of reversible lathes that use a different thread of chuck & jaws, Something about sanding in one direction tends to lay the fiber of the wood down, reversing the rotation cuts the wood fiber the other direction.(kind of makes sense)
I have only used a wood lathe not a metal...YET...!
TIM

[HWooldridge]

If you mean metal lathes, most turn both ways - forward and reverse. Forward is rotating toward the tool holder, which is typically on the operator's side. The headstock holds the spindle (the part that is powered and holds the chuck) and is on the left as you face the lathe with the tailstock is on the right. The spindle can be reversed for various operations but care must be used with a threaded spindle nose because it is possible to unscrew a chuck - not a good thing. Other types of spindle noses are locked and will not unscrew in reverse.

Wood lathes also rotate toward the operator so the knife is forced down against the tool rest when taking a cut.

[Strine]

When I stand at the door of the shed my lathe turns clockwise. When I stand at the window up the other end it turns anticlockwise. Sheesh!

When I stand to work at it it turns toward me.

[scrapman1077]

As HWooldridge said manual lathes turn both ways for all kinds of reasons, CNC lathes can also run both ways, but mostly run clockwise since the turrett is on the back side.

[hdwarner]

lathes turn both ways but think of the cutting action on a metal lathe
clockwise or ccwise you want the cutting action to be pushing on the saddle of the lathe , to avoid chatter and instability the same goes for a wood lathe
you want the chisel resting on the guide with the work pushing the chisel downward on to the saddle

[bruce wilcock]

for spinning steel dishes my father ran the lathe away from him holding the tool under the bar,dont know why ,too late to ask now.

[skunkriv]

I'm guessing so he could lever the back of the tool against the upright of the tool rest. Have seen softer metals spun but have been told spinning steel is hard work.

[Vernon]

Yes a manual metal lathe USUALLY runs counterclockwise (top of chuck/spindle towards ya)...think of the direction a drill bit needs to be turned to cut into the work, and remember it's going to be mounted in a stationary chuck on the tailstock.

[Dodge]

Turning ccw also puts the cutting pressure down on the cutting tool. Cw and the cutter wouldn't cut