Keyhole Router Bit

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

For more on the toolpath see

Carbide Create V7 Question- Keyhole toolpath

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”…

and for a compleat discussion of doing it manually (which should convey all the specifics) see:

Using a keyhole tool

This came up in a support e-mail — unfortunately, Carbide Create can’t preview this, but it can be done — it just takes a bit of faith: ​ ​First, model the slot (the width should be a bit more than the shaft of the keyhole tool, the length equal to how long you want) — this is best done as two circles and a rectangle all connected — using a rectangle makes it easy to position the circles since one can use the midpoints: [image] ​Then draw in the entry hole (this should be a bit more in dia…