Woodturning is said to be the safest form of woodworking, that said it can still be dangerous and care should be taken at all times

The methods and procedures I show here are what I do at the moment and feel safe doing, I am not suggesting that you should do things the same way, that is up to you, if you don’t feel safe doing it one way find another way of doing it.

Above all take care and remember if this is your hobby it is supposed to be fun so enjoy it.

Tea Lights are a great project for any turner and make very nice gifts, before we start a word about candle safety.

Candles can be very dangerous things and care should be taken when making a holder for them it should be stable and not easy to knock over.   I always use a glass insert in my tea light holders and encourage you to do the same.   The ones I use come from Ikea and are called Glimma and can be found HERE they come in 2 sizes the smaller will take any of the normal sized tealights and the larger Ikeas large tea lights and a lot of pillar candles will also fit them.   Once you have made a holder as well as signing the bottom and putting what sort of wood it is on them you should also put a label on saying “Danger burning candles must never be left unattended” especially if you intend to either give them away or sell them.

As with all projects the first thing to do is choose a suitable piece of wood for this one I am using a nicely figured piece of burr Elm.   I find the center and drill a hole for the screw chuck.

Now mount it on a screw chuck, making sure it goes on deep enough to hold it firm but not too deep so that it will still show at the bottom of the hole for the glass holder.   If your screw chuck is too long make up some washers to reduce its length.

Now make it round and turn the base, with a chucking recess and then sand and polish it.   I always make my  bases slightly concave as this ensures they sit flat and I also round the corners as this looks better as it gives the item a slight lift and also makes them easier to pick up.

Now remove from the screwchuck, mount on your chuck and flatten the front face

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