I am starting work on some box newels and balusters for my own home. I don't have an indexer or lathe, so I am going with the box style. I am trying to come up with a good design idea to use with my Shopbot. Anybody have any cool ideas?

I had one idea on the balusters. They are 1.75" square red oak and I thought about cutting a 1/4" wide slot through on all 4 sides, except for a 4 inch area at the top and bottom. That would leave four 3/4" square mini-posts. Not sure how that would look though. The newel posts are 3-1/2" square, so I am not sure if I want to try that with them.