"Roger" wrote in message
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Jim wrote:
I would personally use aluminum posts.
I suppose I'd do that if my hobby were extruding aluminum, but I feel
pretty strongly about having a few things about the house indicate that
a woodworker lives here. Although it's a new house our goal is to have
peole look at it and think it was the old farmhouse left in the middle
of the McMansions. (Helps that is was the smallest house in the
development)


So much for my suggestion. Since they're decorative only, get the ones made
of that fiber/plastic stuff. No more worries, and they come primed.

If you're hot to turn, help yourself on the glueup with these
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...60&cat=1,46168
joinery bits. Poly glue and a rope clamp -Spanish windlass type- should
make a good glueup. Remote mounting of the tailstock, with one of the
2x6's you use to maintain the distance clad up top as a tool rest is all
you'll need to turn from there. Truth is, at a couple dozen revolutions, a
block or smooth plane worked great. Better consistency than a gouge. Rest
the heel of it on the "toolrest," and skew it to the direction of rotation.

The reason I wouldn't want fresh-cut conifer is that they'll bleed resin
for years through the paint, since they're not resin-set, they're heavier'n
hell, and you can't just stick a urinal cake in the base every spring to
repel critters.