9A compound angle scale/mark

Hi. This may be my first post here, not sure, but have been reading and searching a lot to learn about my lathe and how to use it. I'm not a machinist by trade or education, just a tinkerer trying to get better and making and modifying parts, mostly for my vintage motorcycle addiction.

This may seem like a silly question, because I think I must be missing something, but why is the mark for adjusting the angle of the compound rest located on the back of the unit, furthest from the operator? I have my lathe on a bench against a wall and can't look at it from behind and it's really inconvenient to try and see over top and upside down to adjust the angle. I even tried taking it apart to see if it was assembled backwards or something.

I have done some searching on the forum so if I missed some obvious answer somewhere on this forum, I apologize. I'm wondering if I'm missing something really silly and simple, or if this is the actual way the lathe is designed.

Just the way it is.

Easiest thing to do IMO is to simply make new witness marks on the cross slide at the 90 degree locations and just count off degrees from there.

If the degree marks were in front they would be under the crank and you would not be able to see them at all. The degree marks are not all that accurate anyway, except on some very expensive machines. It is something you need to get used to. If your crossfeed has space on the sides you could add a mark at 90 degrees from the original. Most of us just get by. You could try a mirror too.

It is a PIA. When I bought my 10k new directly from SB, it had no witness mark. I had to make my own. I have made a mark on the side for 30 and 90 degrees.

Thanks, folks. I think part of my "problem" is that I'm only 5'5" and my lathe is on a fairly tall bench. I've started just backing the compound all the way out and standing on a little step to look over the back. I may just make a new witness mark as suggested. Thanks again!

I think I would recommend you lower the bench. If you need a step up to read the "protractor", it must be much too high for yourself.