A new experiance

My Student today was Mark who a few years ago was involved in a Motorcycle accident and ended up with a broken back.
Mark is now paralysed from the chest down and in a wheelchair.
This obviously does not stop Mark from making the most of life and has  the most wonderful positive attitude.
Mark rang me to book in for woodturning Tuition and I must admit I had no idea what it would involve I had never seen anyone that is partly paralysed let alone taught one woodturning.
Anyway we arranged for Mark to come today and see how we both got on. My attitude was this is going to be a new experience for both of us so lets make the most of it and enjoy ourselves this we did.
I have learnt a lot from today and realise now that there are improvements I can make so that turning will be easier for Mark on hi next visit.

Next time I think I will make a raised platform so that Mark can us my Nova lathe the swivel head would solve most of the problems we encountered

Here are a few pics from today.

One of the things I need to do next time is get the lathe even lower it is on its lowest setting here or a raised platform for Marks wheelchair

 I need to remove the crossbar on the stand to allow Mark to be closer to the lathe

 Mark found the long handle on the bowl gouge a bit awkward so here is using the short handled gouge and found it more comfortable

 Mark using a scraper this would be a lot easier with the lathe lower.

 As you can see from this picture Mark needs to support himself at all times and is using the rest when sanding

 As you can see from this pic Mark is using the clamped board for support

 That is the result .