Occasionally I ask a friend to make stair parts for Architectural Turnings.com. There are sometimes turnings that I contract for that are more efficiently made on another machine which my partner happens to have. The poplar newel above was such a case. This newel measures about 7 1/4 inches at the widest. The height on this newel is about 54 inches. The flat area at the top that receives the handrail is uncharacteristically short (this is what the owners wanted). As such, the handrail coming down the stairs will require an upeasing to attach to the flat horizontally. Without the upeasing, the handrail would be wider than the flat area.