Yes. Ideally you want to move the compound from the position of
29.5 degrees crank towards tailstock to the same angle towards headstock instead so you can follow the flank of the trailing edge of the cut, only making a very shallow cut there for each pass while making a deeper cut on the leading edge.And you don't do the full depth in a single pass -- unless it is a very fine and shallow thread -- say something like 80 TPI or finer.
And also -- aside from setting the gearbox (or changing the gears, depending on the lathe involved), you also want to use the half-nuts to engage carriage motion -- not the power feed which works through the handwheel. (Of course, some lathes don't have the power feed, only the half nuts, so the question becomes moot.)
The main thing for the first threads is to make sure that you've got plenty of space for reaction time to stop the cut -- don't make your first threads cut to a shoulder. :-)
Easiest is if you have a reduced diameter both before and after the area to be threaded. If you don't have that, cut a runout groove to the depth of the thread at the end of your thread. The needed width will vary with the coarseness of the thread, the speed of the spindle, and your reaction time. Before you actually cut the thread, back the tool out far enough so it will clear the increased diameter of the workpiece at the end of the thread, and try some practice runs -- using the dial to determine when to engage the half nuts, and seeing how consistent you can be as to where you disengage the half nuts. That will give you an idea how wide the runout groove needs to be for this thread. Coarser threads move the carriage faster and require faster reaction times. Really fine threads give you a lot more leeway in reaction time.
Enjoy, DoN.