Where do ya Look?

Both. For smaller spindle type of turnings, I look more at the point of tool contact than I do with larger hollow vessels or bowls, etc. I'll also tend to look at the tool at the beginning of the cut and then switch over to looking at the upper profile of the wood piece as I'm making the cut.

I keep a white on one side and black on the other side background piece of cardboard that I can lay on the backside of the lathe (in my direct line of sight with the spinning wood in-between) so that it's easier to see the definitions of the profiles as I'm cutting. I just flip the cardboard over depending on the wood I'm cutting in order to get the best contrast.

The more comfortable you are with tool control and how your tool is going to behave, the more you look at the profile instead of the tool.

- Andrew

As Andrew said, where you can see what's going on. Sometimes it's the tool, sometimes the cut on the other side. I cut at midline, with tools almost horizontal, so I build up bunches of excelsior between the work and the toolrest, especially when making finishing cuts. Couldn't see the edge if I had too in those circumstances, so I follow progress with eye to opposite and tactile feedback.

It's the shaving I'm making that concerns me most. I want to get a cut rather than a tear, so I try to make sure the lowest part of the cut produces a smooth edge on the curl, and therefore a smoother surface from which it was cut. Once the angle is established, I can transfer my eye elsewhere.

Shavings and such for view on

"Lewis Dodd" wrote in messagenews:uy_Fb.32$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net...> Just curious, but where do you tend to look when turning, at the tool or> beyond toward the back side of the piece as a "result" of the tool?

On the outside of a form, I always look at the result of the cut...rarely at the tool. In the inside, I look at the tool tip.

Peter Teubel Milford, MA