I’ve seen more and more references to people trying to work out how to make keyholes in CC. We’d be open to adding that as a toolpath in V7 so I’d like a little feedback.
To simplify, we’d probably define the location with a circle, like the drilling toolpath, and then you’d define how tall you’d like the keyhole to be, and what direction from the center, Y+, Y-, X+, X-.
We’d probably implement the toolpath as a plunge, line to the end and back, then a retract. We would not offer to “expand” the keyhole with a pill-shaped toolpath.
The simulation engine cannot handle undercuts so the simulation would just show a pill-shaped pocket. There’s no way around this one.
My thinking is that that it would be defined by the entry hole, which would be selected like any other vector, and then by a length and direction values entered in the toolpath settings.
Does anyone really create a keyhole at a non-90-degree angle?
Things I’ve done - off the top of my head:
tilted shelf supports
plates sliding onto wooden bases with a push and slide mechanism (at an angle)
Bed rail mounts on a bed with a slanted rail
Im probably the least qualified person in this forum to be running a cnc. Lol. I used the keyhole tool path on some plaques and it was very user friendly. The only issue i had which wasnt really a big problem is that i originally set it to cut a 2 inch keyhole slot but then changes it to 1.25 inches. When i ran it, it still cut it at 2 inches. Probably something that im doing/not doing, but im going to play around with it some more tomorrow.
Been thinking of getting a keyhole cutter, much like this one. A question that comes to mind is chip extraction in the ‘blind’ or ‘buried’ section of the cut… is it an issue or not?
