Reply by DustyMark

I just thought of a fall-back position. I could drill the top crest holes, cut it to shape, smooth out the bandsaw marks, rip the blank in half, and assemble the portion of the top crest with the spindle holes to the lower assembly. This would give me the ease of assembly offered by through tenons! After the glue is dry, I could then reglue the upper half of the top crest and cut the top curve with scroll saw. The seam would be barely noticeable in the grain pattern since it’s cut from the same block of wood. That’s more work, but possibly a lot less drama during assembly…

-- Mark, Florida