>I ran into a friend today, a guy who had a stroke a few years back. It was his right side that was affected and, although he's recovered remarkably well, he has very limited use of his right hand and arm. Turns out he has a lathe at home that he had never really used, it was gathering dust in a corner of his wife's pottery studio for many years, and now he's starting to think about using it. He asked me if I thought that was possible.
My first thought was that it would be awfully difficult. Then I realized that pretty much EVERYTHING is awfully difficult for Jim now, and so far he's found a way to do most anything he wants to. So we talked for awhile about how he might hold a gouge, could he rig up some kind of fitting on his right hip that the gouge handle would sit in, stuff like that. It occurs to me that maybe he's not the first to try this. Does anyone know of any woodturners who have only one useable arm? Seen any resources along those lines in the literature? Any and all thoughts will be appreciated.
