Tea Light Candle Stick Turned from Fence Post

Our local lumber yard had some non-ground contact cedar fence posts for about $6. So I bought one, verified that any preservative on the post was safe, and my son used on new 10" lathe to turn a candlestick. We are just learning how to best use a chuck and made some mistakes and learned a lot along the way. I will be adding some more woodturning video to the channel once I master this and I am contemplating some multi-material projects that include wood and 3d printed parts.

In the following photo, you will see the before, the intermediate step, and the final result.

Yes, I did some research and tea candles are safe to use in wood candlesticks if you use the type that is in a metal holder.

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The wood grain looks really nice on the turned candle holder. Did you use any wood finish on it?

Nice and warm thing. Great job!

OMG, I haven’t turned any wood in many, many decades. I once used a 3 ft. wood lathe to create a “spear” for the Boy Scouts to use in jamboree ceremonies. I made it in 2 sections & joined them so it was almost 6 ft. long.

I don’t think I’ve done any lathe work for about 60 years. For some reason my father who had very few tools got one somewhere. My brother and I played with it a little. I think I made a baseball bat. My brother made a bowl and then it just sat there unused for years.