You asked
"The routing caused some nice smoke, and some of the sawdust nearly caught – is this normal? "
- the most likely cause is that you are being naturally cautious, and moving the router too slowly. Once it's made a cut, if you leave the bit spinning against wood, it will just heat up. (Think boy scouts making a fire!) If you move on into new wood, it cuts instead. But projects like this are the best practice - I'm sure you'll enjoy keeping at it!
"The routing caused some nice smoke, and some of the sawdust nearly caught – is this normal? "
- the most likely cause is that you are being naturally cautious, and moving the router too slowly. Once it's made a cut, if you leave the bit spinning against wood, it will just heat up. (Think boy scouts making a fire!) If you move on into new wood, it cuts instead. But projects like this are the best practice - I'm sure you'll enjoy keeping at it!
