"Tdacon" wrote in news:ldr1cn$9t$1@dont-
email.me:

When the router bit manufacturers refers to a spiral-cut router bit as
up-cut or down-cut, are they consistently speaking with reference to the
router base? Or are they assuming a router-table orientation as opposed to a
hand-held router?

It's referenced with respect to the *wood*. Up-cut lifts the fibers up and out of the wood, down-
cut cuts down into the wood.