Turned Tulip Baluster Spindle

A slender turned spindle with tulip leaves rising from each collar. This is a lathe-style baluster rendered as a carved relief blank. A long central vase-shaped shaft swells gently at its middle and tapers toward two ringed collars, above and below which sit carved tulip-and-leaf cups — stylised petals that wrap the bulbs where the turning meets the square top and bottom blocks. The square ends are left plain so the piece can be joined, doweled or mortised into a run of matching spindles. The profile is symmetrical top to bottom, giving it a graceful, balanced silhouette. It is ideal for staircase balustrades, chair and table legs, bed posts, or decorative railing and porch work where you want repeated turned uprights with a little carved flourish. CNC notes • Best cut as a rotary/4th-axis job so the turning and the carved cups wrap fully around the blank. • If you only have a 3-axis machine, split the STL into front and back halves, machine each, and glue on the seam line. • Rough with a ballnose, then detail the tulip leaves and collar rings with a fine tapered ball. • Keep the square blocks oversized in your stock so you have material for the joinery. Scale the length to match your rail height or table; keep the diameter proportional so the collars stay crisp.