Originally Posted by
MARV
First question I'd ask is; what specifically is the make up of the laminated blanks? I've machined laminated knife handle stock (birch as well) and that is a very different animal from plywood. My material was phenolic impregnated and was miserable to cut (smelled terrible and weighed a ton too). That alone warrants special tooling and feed speeds.
Generally, on 3D stuff in hardwoods I start with an up shear corrugated roughing bit often cutting across the grain with perhaps 1/16" stock to leave. Follow that with up or down shear finishing bits cutting with the grain (sometimes climb cut with a follow up conventional cut). This was done with an 8HP spindle run at 16,000 RPM, 3/4" dia bits at 150 to 200 IPM. 60% tool stepover and 1/2" DOC (depending on 1st pass or follow up cuts). These values could be scaled to lesser HP and tooling diameters.
Quality of cut (regarding blow outs and such) will depend heavily on your tool path sequencing choices. Have fun!