I love wood working, so I was very excited to get started with the lathe. But even for a first project, I think making a simple handle is a bit boring, so I decided to try adding an off axis step as well. Here’s a step by step guide of what I did-

I started with a soft wood dowel, marked it’s center and mounted it on the lathe. I used a round nose tool to shape the bulk of the handle, using my fist as a reference and free handing the design. I left the handle fatter than needed for now. And trued up the ends.

I then sanded down the sides at a ~5 degree angle on the sander and mounted it on the lathe in this angled configuration. I started the lathe at a slow speed and rounded the ends so that the weight wasn’t too unwieldy. Then I shaped the fat part of the handle, again using my fist as a reference.

When I was happy with the shape, I took the handle off again and mounted it in the original configuration for sanding. If I were to do this again, I would sand the handle in this tilted configuration before dismounting it. I sanded it with 60 grit and 220 grit paper.

Eccentric handle

I finished the handle with the wax buffing wheel. Here is the finished result-