I purchased a central machinery mini lathe for small projects for my wife to use. We are currently having issues with the tail stock spindle not tightening up at all and the hand crank just turning forever, even with a piece in place. This video goes over the details and hopefully is a good...

So being a relative noob at cutting wood, I figured I would get some opinions here before I start. I have a 2x4 stock for a crossbow that I am working on, I used my bandsaw to get it shaped nicely. Now I am faced with the issue that while my cut outs are done, all of the hard edges of the wood...