MikeMac wrote: After getting it rounded off, I noticed that:

2: the piece oscillates ever so little.. If I back off the tailstock head a
bit, the tailstock pin stops turning, & the oscillating stops. Is that
normal?

It sounds like you're turning a long thin spindle. When the L/D gets
over about 15 the center of the spindle starts to whip (like a
jumprope--first dynamic mode of instability). to put more pressure
(until your live center turns at the same speed as the wood, as
previously mentioned) you will increase this vibration. To turn long
thin spindles like this you have to strike a happy medium by doing one
or more of the following, and it gets harder the longer your spindle
becomes:

a. make it so the tailstock is slightly looser, but this isn't the best
choice, as your piece will then vibrate on the spindle cone and cause a
rough surface.

b. hold the spindle steady as you turn, either with your hand, as many
old style turners do, or using a steady rest. The steady rest takes a
lot more time, and it's often easier to use the hand that is at the tip
of the tool to kind of hold the piece steady as it spins. The way many
turners do this, they put their left thumb on the tool tip and the four
pads of fingers rest on the spinning spindle. This really is only
helpful and safe once the wood is close to round, or at least octagonal
with rounded corners from your first tool pass.

Roughing out the spindle can be made easier by starting with a straight
tool edge and scraping away a few mm at a time, making each cut round
before you take off the next few mm. Trying to use a cutting action
with a nonround part is going to take longer and be more frustrating
when you're just beginning.

c. I have had great success turning long spindles (L/D30) with a
short, very low angle hand plane held in one hand and the second hand
on the opposite side of the spindle, holding only the flat of my hand.

Again, you should start with a scraper to make the whole thing round
before you try cutting with a plane, and use the plane only to make it
smooth and cut a fair, straight line. Using a plane, press the shoe
flat against the cylinder to be cut, blade edge perpendicular to the
axis of rotation so it's not cutting and slowly change the angle of the
plane until it just takes off the smallest finest curl of wood, and
then be patient. I find the best angle is around 20-45 degrees from
perpendicular. Take many passes like this and you can get a glassy
smooth finish as good as a skew or better, but with less vibration
because the piece is supported.

When I use a hand plane for long spindles, I don't use a tool rest. It
seems like it will help you support the plane, but I think it adds a
high risk of seriously pinching fingers between the wood and the tool
rest.

3: If I line up the point of the headstock, and the point on the tailstock,
the don't line up perfectly.. (less than 1 mm diff). Does this really
matter?

Leo's answer is correct on this. More info: some lathes have
adjustments for that problem. Mine only has a side to side adjustment,
so if they're off up and down, I have to shim the headstock until
they're the same height.

Less than a mm, you'll never notice the diff unless you're turning with
a geared & indexed tool rest. If I get it under 1/8" (2-3 mm) I'm happy.