Thread: How left or right handed are you?

G'day Arthur,

Sorry to hear about your hand. That old saying rings true when they say "You don't know what you have until its gone/injured". When I was born I was given a full set.....one left hand one right hand on the proper part of the arm.
They have served me well over the last 58 years with some interruption in service due to careless/accidental actions. As I said my hands have been everywhere that I have been and been involved one way or another in tasks over that time.

BUT .... both may have been at the same place....but I don't trust my left hand to perform tasks that my right hand does so well. That is hammering nails. using a hand saw, using a power saw, screw driving is only called upon when the right hand can't manage. Drilling is better done with the right hand but the left can at least do a reasonable job.When it comes to cricket bats.......I am definitely a lefty. CAN NOT bat right handed at all.

I had a boss who was really left handed. He would write a tick with the tail heading left. He would do most of the workshop drawing, one day one of the blokes came to me and asked what was meant by two words written down the page. If you read the two words one way it had a completely different meaning when read the other way round. I had to think for a minute, then knowing just how left handed he was I said that it should be read with the right hand word first then the left one. I was right as it turned out

With regards to your eye - it must have been hard for you at the beginning to adjust to the one eye. I have to wear glasses all the time now and I find that it is an annoying and frustrating thing.

I hope your convalescence is short and you can get back to your very important shed jobs. One thing though with a damaged wing it might just get you out of mowing the lawn . Well at least for a little while

Compared to you artme, my present problems are minor. I have just had a L/H carpel tunnel release and although I am generally right handed, I am ambidextrous with some tasks. however, this temporary inconvenience still causes some problems as you are probably aware.
I hope you recover quickly

I'm 8 weeks into my hand accident and despite initial fears, I've coped quite well. I injured my left and I'm left handed. To some extent my right side has become more pronounced to the extent I don't even have to think when performing tasks. I was ambidextrous anyway.

Sooo, dare I ask how you injured your hand?

All the best for your recovery.

Hmmm... in some ways I'm ambidextrous; like when I'm inserting or removing screws, nuts or bolts I can use both hands completely independant of each other. I can hammer with both hands providing I have a hammer in each hand, this really comes in useful when blacksmithing... but won't trust the hammer in my left hand for nailing! Screwing, spannering, filing, sawing I can use either hand but feel more confident with my right.

For finer stuff, I can't write for shinola with my left hand. Actually, anyone who attempts to read my handwriting would argue I can't write with either. In that respect I guess I'm "ambisinister".

I am however a left handed welder when using gas or TIG. I don't know why; it just felt more controlled when I was an apprentice and I kept it up. MIG I can use either, MMA I much prefer RH but will weld LH if I need to.

Fortunately, the only hand injuries I've ever suffered have pretty much all been on my left hand... so I've never been in a position where I've had to rely on my non-dominant hand.

the worst thing is trying to wipe with the wrong hand.
It just doesn't go well.

I can hammer and screw left and right.
I eat left.
I am right.

I am left handed, but do many things right handed.
I have 4 siblings and out of the 5 of us 4 are left handed, I imagine that would be fairly unsual.

Scott, i ran my hand onto the blade of the table saw. ( See post in Safety).

What makes me wonder is does the fact that i have had only one eye for 60 years make a difference?


I notice that i turn the com,b the wrong way when combing my hair!

Originally Posted by artme

Scott, i ran my hand onto the blade of the table saw. ( See post in Safety).

What makes me wonder is does the fact that i have had only one eye for 60 years make a difference?


I notice that i turn the com,b the wrong way when combing my hair!

Comb??? Hair??? almost foreign to me

Originally Posted by artme

Scott, i ran my hand onto the blade of the table saw. ( See post in Safety).

What makes me wonder is does the fact that i have had only one eye for 60 years make a difference?

Geez Art, no good. IF you want to compare scars or just offload, send me a PM. Hand therapy is the key. All the best.

I tend to stick with one hand or the other for a task - it just depends on which hand I used when learning the task. I am pretty good hammering things with either hand, but I used to be known as 'Lightning' - because I never used to hit twice in the same place.

I also find I change master eye from day to day, I can even do it deliberately with a bit of concentration & a blink or two. Of course some tools demand you use one hand or the other, such as most rifles, but others can accomodate either hand (pistols) or are readily obtained in left & right hand versions (archery gear).

Originally Posted by artme

Scott, i ran my hand onto the blade of the table saw. ( See post in Safety).

What makes me wonder is does the fact that i have had only one eye for 60 years make a difference?


I notice that i turn the com,b the wrong way when combing my hair!

Having vision in one eye makes a big difference. By nature we are binocular and the reason for this is that it allows us to have depth perception and without both eyes working at the same or similar level the depth perception part doesn't work properly. I have what is known as mono vision as a deliberate choice on my part and I was warned about the depth problem prior to choosing it. I find if I am stacking stuff with a forklift that requires precision then it can be difficult at times due to the depth perception not being as good as it was. If I am doing really fine fiddly work like soldering small wires etc then I have to use a contact lens in one eye to restore my vision to the same level in both eyes.

Know what you are on about Chris. I was once smacked in the face by a cricket ball
that I tried to catch as it fell to earth from a great altitude out of a clear blue sky!

I remember as a teenager trying to grab a needle that was hanging by a thread of cotton.
My mother was holding it up against the background of a mono coloured wall. Hopeless!

I rarely drive at night these days and only then along a well planned route that I have used before.

I have terrible trouble with the use of an axe. I find it almost impossible to aim.

Cutting with a handsaw, drilling holes where it is critical to be plumb in both directions is out of the question.

On the other hand I don't have to close one eye when sighting a rifle or viewing through a telescope.

Originally Posted by artme

On the other hand I don't have to close one eye when sighting a rifle or viewing through a telescope.

Unfair advantage! Unfair!

Arthur

I too had an unfortunate encounter with a circular saw, quite a long time ago now. I felt pretty foolish at the time. It is definitely an advantage to be ambidextrus after such incidents.

You seem to be surrounded by a whole heap of troubles during recent weeks. I think you should be careful .

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by BRADFORD

I am left handed, but do many things right handed.
I have 4 siblings and out of the 5 of us 4 are left handed, I imagine that would be fairly unsual.

Bradford

Your family should consider itself lucky it wasn't around 100 years ago. You would have been encouraged to become right handed (primarily by flogging and time on the rack.) 300 years ago and you would have been burnt at the stake.

"Sinistra" is the latin word for left hand. Our word "sinister" is derived from it.

A freind of mine does all delicate skills left handed, but heavy physical skills right handed (and footed). So he bowls left, bats right, kicks a ball right, writes left etc.

Regards
Paul