Setting mini-lathe tool height
There are two essential criteria for successful turning on your mini- lathe. The first is the cutting tool and based on the frustrations I experienced when I started model engineering I would strongly advise the use of indexable cutters which in a stroke removes the need for grinding your own cutting tools. You can always look at grinding your own cutters later but for now lets remove as many hazards as possible to get the newcomer started.
The second essential is presenting the tip of the cutter at exactly the right height. This should be spot on to the centreline of the workpiece being held in the chuck. There are many ways to skin a cat and this is how I sorted mine out.
If you have not yet invested in a quick change tool post, where each cutter can be adjusted to the correct height by the turning of a screw, then you will need to resort to the use of shims to lift the cutting tip to the correct height. Incidentally a dismantled set of automotive feeler gauges provides a selection of varying thickness shims.