TO start it off.... I hunt and train pointing dogs in my off time. 100+ birds in the bag this fall ( and a few deer ) and the Lakes froze over last weekend so some hard water fishing happening in Minesoooootahhh !!!
thanks, all computer, except for a 'bunch' of sanding and work with a box cutter. quarter-sawn looks cool, but it doesn't 'cut clean' very well. up-cut and down-cut bits both leave a lot of 'fuzzy' everywhere, I think because of the way the grain is running.
For deep cutting, I start the 3D with a 1/2" flat bottom to hog out material (with stock left on). Then I will either go with 1/2" ball-nose or 1/4" ball nose, depending on how the simulation looks. From there, 1/8" and 1/16" ball nose. To finish the profile of the cat (to clean up the edges) I used a 1/4" and 1/8" flat bottom down cut. A down cut SHOULD give you a crisp top edge due to the cutting direction, and they have on all the other things I have cut, but not so much on that quarter-sawn. Also, the 1/8 & 1/16 ball nose also left little fuzzies, which they will, but usually very minor compared to what they left on the quarter-sawn.
Yes, the ball-nose I have all have center cutting.
(edit)
Also, for finish 3D work is all done as 'climb' cutting, so the edges cut INTO material, not 'out of' the material.