I am helping my brother with a project for his church that involves me making handles for statue carriers. The material I'm using is hard maple that is 1 3/4 inches thick. I have a pattern made where the end of it is rounded. My 8 blanks are already cut on the band saw and I tried to stay about an eight inch away from the lines. I have an old 3/4 diameter bottom bearing straight cutter bit that I have used before but only on softer wood. I was able to successfully route the first blank although it was scary going around the end grain which didn't come out very smooth. I did sharpen the bit before starting.

On the second blank the bit caught the end grain and cracked the part. I was looking at some of the newer pattern bits that are the up and down design like the Infinity Mega flush trim bit and was wondering if this design would solve this issue. All comments and suggestions are appreciated.