Is this a dull router bit? Bad technique? Or something unique to pine?`

The power of the router also has a lot to do with getting good results climb cutting. If the cutter is pushing the router to the limit you'll have noticeably more tear-out and grabbiness because of the load.

When I use my 55mm x 30mm spiral cutter in the OF1400 I see a bit of performance difference when doing aggressive cuts in hardwood compared to the OF2200 which is like using a hot knife in butter.
 
The amount of drill/router bit/countersink cutting flutes engaged in cutting, determines the chip loading of the tool. And more cutting edges lead to a reduction of chip loading...a good thing. That's the reason you're seeing an increase of cutting edges in bits for milling machines and for countersinks. Four flute & five flute end mills are becoming more popular as are 4 and 5 flute countersinks.

However, it can be a fine line between chip loading and cutter speed...as they say in the metal machining arena, "You need to make chips, not dust."
Also important to remember is that larger diameter tooling will support a larger chip load which can lead to faster feed rates. And helical cutters have the advantage of having several cutting flutes in action at the same time as opposed to straight carbide brazed bits which engage the material one cutting edge at a time.
 
My skill set on the scroll saw has improved greatly, which surprised me as I have about 3 - 4 hours total on the machine.

I am now able to cut on the pencil line or within 1/16” of that line.

I also switched from pine scrap that I had, to maple which I purchased for this purpose.

I tried using the 1/2” three blade Whiteside bit to trim in one pass.  That meant that about 1/3 is cut down the grain; 1/3 is along the grain and 1/3 is up the grain.

While the bit did not chew up the sections where I was cutting up hill on the grain, it still left a slightly rough texture.

I will try a series of very light passes to see if that will yield a better surface.

Also, the maple burned quite easily.  Sanding out the burns was almost as much work as sanding the rough texture. 

 
Packard said:
Also, the maple burned quite easily.  Sanding out the burns was almost as much work as sanding the rough texture.

Maple loves to do that. Wipe the edge with mineral spirits just before routing it. Helps a lot with burn
 
PaulMarcel said:
Packard said:
Also, the maple burned quite easily.  Sanding out the burns was almost as much work as sanding the rough texture.

Maple loves to do that. Wipe the edge with mineral spirits just before routing it. Helps a lot with burn

I have mineral spirits in the house.  I can try that.  But for the life of me, I cannot understand the science behind that.
 
Packard said:
I have mineral spirits in the house.  I can try that.  But for the life of me, I cannot understand the science behind that.

The burn is due to the friction heat from the router bit. You hit the wood with mineral spirits first which will heat up along with the maple and flash off. In effect, you're letting the mineral spirits take some of the generated heat. If you're moving along at a decent pace, this likely reduces the heat given to the maple enough to eliminate the burn. It has definitely worked well for me, although I admit that I usually remember after getting a bit of burn
 
luvmytoolz said:
The power of the router also has a lot to do with getting good results climb cutting. If the cutter is pushing the router to the limit you'll have noticeably more tear-out and grabbiness because of the load.

When I use my 55mm x 30mm spiral cutter in the OF1400 I see a bit of performance difference when doing aggressive cuts in hardwood compared to the OF2200 which is like using a hot knife in butter.

I have a Porter-Cable 690 mounted in the table.  It does not sound like it is under heavy load when cutting. 

I have a Makita 3 h.p. Router, but it is such a clunky heavy piece I almost never use it and I definitely never use in mounted on the table. 
 
PaulMarcel said:
Packard said:
I have mineral spirits in the house.  I can try that.  But for the life of me, I cannot understand the science behind that.

The burn is due to the friction heat from the router bit. You hit the wood with mineral spirits first which will heat up along with the maple and flash off. In effect, you're letting the mineral spirits take some of the generated heat. If you're moving along at a decent pace, this likely reduces the heat given to the maple enough to eliminate the burn. It has definitely worked well for me, although I admit that I usually remember after getting a bit of burn

OK, so I am using the mineral spirits for evaporative cooling.  I guess denatured alcohol would work as well.

I would have to add the mineral spirits immediately prior to the cut.  I will try that.
 
Packard said:
OK, so I am using the mineral spirits for evaporative cooling.  I guess denatured alcohol would work as well.

I would have to add the mineral spirits immediately prior to the cut.  I will try that.

Yes, apply right before the route. Mineral spirits flashes off slower and takes more heat than alcohol so the benefit is significantly less with alcohol. I've tried it in comparison in the past.
 
Packard said:
OK, so I am using the mineral spirits for evaporative cooling.  I guess denatured alcohol would work as well.

The alcohol evaporates too quickly. By the time you wipe on the alcohol, place the cover back on the alcohol bottle, turn on the router and position the board...90% of the alcohol is gone.
 
Tom Gensmer said:
If you have an oscillating spindle sander, have you considered producing an offset template and producing the piece that way? You'd certainly avoid the problem of going "uphill" with a router bit....

I have an oscillating spindle sander.  But I have no idea how ro use it with a template.
 
I turns out that the template is not needed. 

My scroll saw skills have advanced far quicker than I had right to imagine.  In just a handful of sessions, I am now able to have the saw blade touch the pencil line or split the pencil line for almost all of the cut.  So there is very little material that I need to remove.

It takes 3 or 4 minutes to go over the outline of the cut with the bench top arbor/belt sander. No setups required. 

Since the outline of the toys do not have to mate to another piece, the sanded edges need only be smooth and with smooth transitions in direction.

So, I have not solved the router template issue; I have only maneuvered around it.  I am happy with the results.  I will probably stick with this.

As a side mention:  I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Thursday and maybe he can get me back to the real wood working (which requires standing and lifting), instead of these trinkets which I can do seated (mostly) and the lifting is minimal.
 
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