First turnings; candlesticks

I did the same thing for some of my first turnings. Except I had no issues with using a drill rpess for my forstner bit…

FWIW, I would give you the same suggestion I got. Turn a base for them so they don't tip as easily. As they are, they are a fire hazard…

Nice!

Just a question about the drill chuck- you said you could not mount it in your lathe. Do you mean it is the wrong size or the lathe live/dead centers are not removable?

The skew will come, in time.

If you have a chuck to screw on your lathe spindle, turn a spigot on the part when you have it between centers and then mount the part by the the spigot in your chuck. On the end where you want the bore for the candle, use your skew to make a small indent to center a drill, then you can hand drill a hole the depth you want to go and bore it out to size with a gouge and finish the corners with the skew. If you are going to be a turner, you will need to get friendly with the skew. It is so handy once you get the feel of using it.

I made a handle for a long twist drill that I use to start a bore. I hold it with a glove because if it turns in your hand, you will get an awful friction burn. But it works slick and you don't need a drill chuck. I have a round stop on it with a thumb screw to control the depth. I used to use a Sharpie and mark it!
You could even drill the starter hole with an electric drill with the lathe shut off

Looks good Ron. Instead of using a drill, while you have the wood in the chuck before you make your coves use a parting tool to cut into the wood to your depth of the candle. That's what I did when I did mine back when.

Nice first effort - it will get easier and easier. Good for you trying something different! Keep experimenting.

dbhost, that is my next project I want to try. I have a faceplate but haven't used it, yet. Thanks.

Lew, the tailstock center is fixed and the headstock has a foreign thread, no morse tapers.

Jim, thanks for the tip. I tried using the skew the other day to smooth up a piece and was doing pretty good for a little while. Then a caught the edge and it jerked pretty hard. Needless to say I put it away. I'll keep trying, though.

My lathe is very old. Just to give you an idea what I'm working with here's a picture of it in pieces before I repainted it and made a bed and legs for it.

Whoa! That is pretty old! Maybe a machine shop would allow you to borrow their thread measuring tool and you could get them to make some adapters or wooden glue blocks.

Hey Ron, nice job on the candle holders. Making the best use of what's to hand is
all part of the fun.
Your lathe looks like an antique. Any idea how old it actually is?

murch, Thank you. The lathe was made in 1836 in England.