You could possibly be tightening the nut to tight. finger tight is enough. Try putting the bushings and blank on the mandrel, then engage the tailstock live center to the end of the mandrel and lock the tailstock and advance the handwheel no more than a 1/4 turn then tighten the brass nut on the mandrel, finger tight.
If that does not work, put a spur center in your headstock and a live center in the tailstock, advance the tailstock to the headstock, the points should line up exactly. If they do not, either the headstock is out of alignment or the tailstock. some lathes have the headstock mounted with bolts, that can be loosened up to adj. As a last resort, take your mandrel shaft only, and roll it on a known flat surface to see if it is bent.
Good luck