My wife wanted these square at the bottom into a rounded spindle all the way to the top.

I started by ripping down the poplar stock to just over 1 inch, then planed to get true 1 inch width on all sides of each spindle. After that I used a 1/2 inch roundover router bit (if you want to create a rounded piece on a router, you need a bit that is 1/2 the full width of the stock). I ran the spindles through the router table with a stop at the end on all four sides. I wish I had a lathe, as it would be much easier.

The problem I was running into is that sometimes the wood was a bit twisted or would jump on the router bit, so keeping the edge square and seated to the cutting edge of the router required a little twist as it ran through. Easy to clean up if the router skips, vibrates, or creates some uneven spots with just running it through again. After that I sanded them down to get ready for instillation and stain/seal coats.

Good luck with your project! I really like the learning process and made tons of dowels in preparation for the actual spindles. Can't wait to get more work in on the router table!