This was puzzling to me as well once.

Just remove your focus from the direction the angled tip points in and consider only the direction it cuts from relative to the operator. Then all will become clear.

The handedness of boring tools follows the same pattern as long as we assume (which I think we safely can do) that the operator uses them whilst facing the chuck rather than looking across the bed as in the first case.

I’m looking at a copy of Sparey now. On page 77, in figure 63, he shows a drawing of an HSS turning tool that today would be universally described as a right-hand tool. His description says: “The illustration shows a right-handed tool for cutting towards the chuck”.

I can only assume there must be different editions of Sparey saying different things on this subject.

My edition of the Bradley Myford series 7 manual says this:

Rod

On 10 October 2026 at 16:34 ega Said:

An analogy from woodturning might help: imagine the turner working a skew chisel towards the headstock

That might not be a good analogy as with a woodturning tool, BOTH hands are involved in its use.

It is only by convention that (if what you say is correct) we hand the tool by the one that touches the steel part and not the one that touches the wooden handle.

One could draw an equally poor analogy with guitars: they come in both left and right handed, but the defining one is the one that does the strumming not the one that frets the notes.

I have always known a right handed lathe tool to be normally used to face off the right side of the workpiece, and vice versa for the left tools.