SteveB wrote:
How much would it cost for a garage machinists to take a
piece of 1" square rod 6" long
leave the ends like they are one inch on each end
turn down the middle to 7/8" diameter
put lengthwise flutes in it
So it looked like an antique wood column when done?
....
Can be hot rolled steel, can even be scrap, just has to
look nice when finished. Will be painted.
and in a later post,
What I started out was recreating a wood column. Square base,
cylindrical center. I have seen some with flutes. I have
seen some with a little ring around the bottom and at the
top of the cylinder dividing the cylinder and square parts.

After finding out the flutes would be the complicated
costly addition, that idea is 86ed.

There is no tolerance to speak of. They are only decorative,
and I would estimate that so long as they looked alike, they
could be off a lot to a machinist.

It isn't clear what you want, without a drawing or any
clear-cut indications of materials (Does "scrap" mean that
wood, aluminum, plastic, clay are ok? Or just steel?) but
one thing you might consider is buying some fluted brass
curtain rods http://doityourself.com/store/6416648.htm
(about $79 for 6 rods, 30') and cutting off 6" pieces.
Materials would run you at least $1.10 per column. If the
square capital or base is vital, your costs would go up
a little or a lot, depending on how you stick things
together. For example, if you glue 3/4"-long blocks
of 1"x1" bar on the ends of a 4.5"-long rod, pretty
cheap. If you cut the 1"x1" blocks a little longer
and turn a round on the end to stick inside the rod,
labor would go up a bunch. If you could live with
hex-shaped capitals or bases, buy a few pounds of
short 5/8 or 3/4" bolts, etc.
-jiw