Shawn, Nice tip on concaving the finial and the end, You doing a lot better than I am, Honestly i haven't even started doing any kitless yet, but Pretty soon I'll have some free time to play. Keep up the good work, like Skip said we don't learn much from our successes, but do, or should learn alot from the mistakes.
I would add one more step (or rather I have added). I go ahead and drill for my clip ring and file out my indention for the clip. That way if there is any runout, it is hidden by the fact that the finial is in it's final spot. Good illustration Shawn!