On 6/11/2025 at 10:35 AM, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

What about climb cutting???

I do "climb cutting" because you want to always cut "downhill" on the grain

When I do curved endgrain pattern cutting, I have to rough out really close to the line, but get pretty good results that way.

The other thing I do is use aluminum for the pattern, it cuts easy with a router and makes for a much stiffer jig (the primary one I use has made thousands of cuts at this point).

Nothing removes the pucker factor though!

 

I wonder of this bit would improve your results? Downside with this particular bit is the 3/4" cut length and not recommended for large, high powered routers.

 

https://bitsbits.com/product/bitsbits-1-2-down-cut-pattern-bit-3-4-loc-425-pb575/

 

Unfortunately their 1" length version is currently out of stock.

 

https://bitsbits.com/product/bitsbits-425-pb510-pattern-bit/
 

They do show this one in stock but not a spiral, downcut version.

 

In all applications, the AstraHP coating is claimed to greatly reduce heat and improve cut results. No personal experience but James Hamilton (aka Stumpynubs) has given positive reviews of these bits and especially the first two listed.

 

https://bitsbits.com/product/3004/