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Does Your Dominant Hand Dictate Form Or Are You Ambidextrous.


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There's dexterity and there's dexterity.  I use both my hands a lot with pottery.  When soldering circuits, the right and left hands have similar jobs (one holds solder), but I hold the iron in my right.  And I wield a hammer in my right... I can't aim for squat with my left, and my right is stronger.  When hand drumming, both hands have equal jobs... but I always lead with my right.  My handwriting is barely legible with my right hand, I can barely hold a pencil correctly in my left.

 

I could pull walls with either hand, but for trimming I want the tool in my right.  If my wheel spun clockwise, I'm sure I'd learn to trim on the left with my right hand holding the tool.

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Rt handed, wheel counter-clockwise ( an endangered term!  ;) ), left hand inside, can throw reverse (clockwise) if pressed to do so, ambidextrous to a good degree. (Former professional drummer... that helps that too.)

 

best,

 

....................john

 

Same as John here, minus the drums. For pulling up: left hand inside. For bellying out: right hand inside. Ambidextrous because I was a piano teacher way back when....

 

Evelyne

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Here's another left-handed injustice. When I go to pay for something with my credit card, or bank card, the shield is ON THE LEFT SIDE!.I then have to work around a stupid shield that is designed to hide my data!.

Ben;

On those paper cutters- in Australia, they have a big roller that slides along, not a 3 ft knife that comes down. Great design.

Happy filleting.

T.

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Tom,

 

One of the worst "Biases" against the "Lefty World", that I encountered was the college lecture halls.  Many of the halls at my university had desktops that folded/ turned down and fit in the gaps between each seat.  That way, you didn't have to squeeze into the chair, when you sat down.  Most of these desktops were on the right side of the chair.  The only left handed desks, were on the left side of the aisle However, since they hung on the outside of the aisle, many of them were snagged by people and their bags as they walked by, breaking them off.  The maintenance department was in no hurry to fix them either.  Beyond that, some no-left handed students would sit in these seats, so they could leave the room quicker and easier.

In either case, lefty folk were left to use the right handed desks, twisting awkwardly to the right, to use the tiny, tiny desk surface.

 

I've seen the roller cutters Tom.  They have them in the supply catalogs I use.  They just tend to be more pricey.  I bought one for my darkroom a couple years ago.  Originally, I had a small standard cutter in there, with a dull blade, and a broken spring.  So the arm wouldn't stay up.  So, when positioning the paper, the blade arm was rested on my shoulder...Very safe right!  This new one, has a sharp blade, and a secondary arm, with a flat rubber surface, that holds the paper, so it doesn't shift when cutting.  Because of this, you don't have to have your hand anywhere near the blade.  It's much safe, especially as I am cutting via dim safe light.

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YOu guys, the Person who designed chain saws was a leftie I am sure!

The pull start is on the left hand side of the machine. This makes it really difficult for  right hand people to generate the power required to start the saw.

Of course after starting it, you are more likely to cut your left leg off but you'd be right legged?? So no big deal.

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Shhhhh that's our secret revenge we're hoping all you righties will wander out into the woods start up your chainsaws and never return. We shall just shake our heads and say, "Well if only they had taken the time to learn with their other hand like us "normal" people." Then sadly turn away to hide the grin on our faces that we are now the majority and can finally design a decent pair of scissors, move all those attached pens at the bank to the other side, remove those awful pencil sharpeners from schools, make cars have the key on the other side, set computer mouses on the right track and never again be embarrassed when somebody says you are writing in the spiral notebook backwards!

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To confuse this question even further, if you are turning the wheel counter clock wise, which SIDE of the bat are your hands on.  Are they at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock?  And which is inside?

I'm a leftie, and my body prefers flexing left, so that determined how I throw. more than the handedness, I think.  Both hands have to work, but I had an easier time getting clay to go up, not out because my dominant left hand is on the outside.

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Wouldn't you have to have left hand inside, right hand outside, at 3:00 regardless of handedness? To keep from jamming fingertips into the clay?

If you wanted to switch to 9:00 and have the right hand inside, the wheel would need to go clockwise, right?

Hands at about 6:00 would work either way, though, wouldn't it?

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Right hand outside left inside, wheel turning counter-clockwise.  Until I had a 14 year old student who could not handle those positions.  Spent several hours teaching myself to throw left hand outside, right hand inside, wheel turning clockwise.

 

 For the most part my left hand & arm are just there for balance when walking. Although when right hand was out of commission for most of a year, the left hand signed checks for bills.  The signature was on a par with fourth grade attempts at cursive writing.  The bank didn't care.

 

Shirley

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Since the beginning of me I have been a right hander-Since 69 I have used my left hand inside and right outside.

Since my PRC wrist surgery almost 3 years ago(the 1st 3 bones removed in wrist) I have become much more left handed as my right wrist  needs to be babied or so said my surgeon. The alternative is a fuzed wrist which I'm told may happen anyway over time. So I stopped hammering and bought a power wedger.

I use my left for heavy stuff and do very little wedging anymore.I still struggle to hit a nail with the left hand but am getting good at lifting with it.

I have some other heavy interests and am using my left hand as much as I can.

My right wrist is always just a little not happy.

Throwing seems to have no effect on it but moving a ton of clay makes it sore as does kiln loading and lifting lots of stuff (which describes my life well as a potter).

I am slowing learning to be more lefty I will try TJR's advice and use a spoon with the left hand but the spoon idea works better when you are 2 years old I think.

Mark

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tom,

 

One of the worst "Biases" against the "Lefty World", that I encountered was the college lecture halls.  Many of the halls at my university had desktops that folded/ turned down and fit in the gaps between each seat.  That way, you didn't have to squeeze into the chair, when you sat down.  Most of these desktops were on the right side of the chair.  The only left handed desks, were on the left side of the aisle However, since they hung on the outside of the aisle, many of them were snagged by people and their bags as they walked by, breaking them off.  The maintenance department was in no hurry to fix them either.  Beyond that, some no-left handed students would sit in these seats, so they could leave the room quicker and easier.

In either case, lefty folk were left to use the right handed desks, twisting awkwardly to the right, to use the tiny, tiny desk surface.

 

I've seen the roller cutters Tom.  They have them in the supply catalogs I use.  They just tend to be more pricey.  I bought one for my darkroom a couple years ago.  Originally, I had a small standard cutter in there, with a dull blade, and a broken spring.  So the arm wouldn't stay up.  So, when positioning the paper, the blade arm was rested on my shoulder...Very safe right!  This new one, has a sharp blade, and a secondary arm, with a flat rubber surface, that holds the paper, so it doesn't shift when cutting.  Because of this, you don't have to have your hand anywhere near the blade.  It's much safe, especially as I am cutting via dim safe light.

I forgot all about these desks!!!  I am left handed with writing and drawing but cutting and crochet is right handed.  My left hand is on the inside of the pot when throwing.  (is that normal? I never compared)  The worst thing ever invented for lefties is 3 ring binders.... No wonder I have to write with a twisted wrist, I have been conditioned to avoid spiral notebooks and large rings.  Not to mention the black hand from drawing... yikes! 

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Hey!

I was just watching Wolverine on Netflicks. They are in Japan . I notice he is eating from a rice bowl with chop sticks. He is left-handed.He has his chop-sticks in his left-hand.  I repeat! The Wolverine is left-handed. [the third movie or something.]

TJR.

Nice pots in the flick, too.

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Tom,

 

One of the worst "Biases" against the "Lefty World", that I encountered was the college lecture halls.  Many of the halls at my university had desktops that folded/ turned down and fit in the gaps between each seat.  That way, you didn't have to squeeze into the chair, when you sat down.  Most of these desktops were on the right side of the chair.  The only left handed desks, were on the left side of the aisle However, since they hung on the outside of the aisle, many of them were snagged by people and their bags as they walked by, breaking them off.  The maintenance department was in no hurry to fix them either.  Beyond that, some no-left handed students would sit in these seats, so they could leave the room quicker and easier.

In either case, lefty folk were left to use the right handed desks, twisting awkwardly to the right, to use the tiny, tiny desk surface.

 

I've seen the roller cutters Tom.  They have them in the supply catalogs I use.  They just tend to be more pricey.  I bought one for my darkroom a couple years ago.  Originally, I had a small standard cutter in there, with a dull blade, and a broken spring.  So the arm wouldn't stay up.  So, when positioning the paper, the blade arm was rested on my shoulder...Very safe right!  This new one, has a sharp blade, and a secondary arm, with a flat rubber surface, that holds the paper, so it doesn't shift when cutting.  Because of this, you don't have to have your hand anywhere near the blade.  It's much safe, especially as I am cutting via dim safe light.

You know, when I am cutting paper on my large cutter, I try to turn the lights down low. I also have no safety and have to pull the arm to the left to cut a paper. What price fingers. Memo to self. get blade sharpened.

Tom.

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Hey!

I was just watching Wolverine on Netflicks. They are in Japan . I notice he is eating from a rice bowl with chop sticks. He is left-handed.He has his chop-sticks in his left-hand.  I repeat! The Wolverine is left-handed. [the third movie or something.]

TJR.

Nice pots in the flick, too.

I always look out for the wristwatch on the right wrist, it's a good tell-tale.  I don't know if the Wolverine has a wristwatch - just talking generally.

 

For the righties out there - a wristwatch on the left wrist not only gets in the way when writing, but is harder to put on and harder to wind with the wrong hand.

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I always look out for the wristwatch on the right wrist, it's a good tell-tale.  I don't know if the Wolverine has a wristwatch - just talking generally.

 

For the righties out there - a wristwatch on the left wrist not only gets in the way when writing, but is harder to put on and harder to wind with the wrong hand.

 

 

As a right handed person who grew up with wristwatches on the right hand, I can say this method works, I had to switch over to my less dominant hand (left) after breaking too many watches...

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I forgot all about these desks!!!  I am left handed with writing and drawing but cutting and crochet is right handed.  My left hand is on the inside of the pot when throwing.  (is that normal? I never compared)  The worst thing ever invented for lefties is 3 ring binders.... No wonder I have to write with a twisted wrist, I have been conditioned to avoid spiral notebooks and large rings.  Not to mention the black hand from drawing... yikes! 

 

 

It's not just three-ring binders, but all spiral notebooks.  In the spiral sketchbooks I use, I'll actually turn the book upside down.  By doing so, I never have to rest my hand on the spiral.

 

In college, due to the whole "'Righty Culture' of writing right to left", I would write nearly above what I was writing.  I would have to twist my wrist a bit as well, to accomplish this.  I used liquid ink pens, so it was a must, or risk smearing everything I had just written.

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