The synthesis of all eight rare but biologically important 6deoxy-L-hexoses as their thioglycoside glycosyl donors starting from the commercially available L-rhamnose or L-fucose is reported. The synthesis of all eight 6-deoxy-L-hexoses was accomplished using a variety of epimerization methods, which revealed some general trends. The stereoselective reduction of 4-oxopyranosides could be predicted by the Cram chelation model, while Mitsunobu conditions led to elimination in some substrates.