I decided to go with the candlestick, but I wasn't sure how to attach it to the crank so that it would spin freely. I initially figured on drilling through the entire handle, but didn't feel confident (with the tools I have) that I could drill a straight line all the way through it.
So I came up with an alternative arrangement using a threaded wood insert nut and a 10-32 screw and some nuts and washers.
I cut the candlestick, drilled a hole in the end to accommodate the wood insert nut, then used a dremel tool grinder to grind down the bolt head so that it was just barely smaller than the minimal diameter of the insert nut. I also used the grinder to grind down the threads on the bolt just below the bolt head. This made it so I could thread the bolt into the wood insert nut and the bolt would eventually run out of threads and the insert nut would spin freely just below the bolt head. I screwed the insert/bolt combo into the candlestick head-first. I then used a nylon locknut on one side of the crank and a brass washer and cap nut on the other side:
