Hi all.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would like to create a t slot / key slot / hanging slot. The type you find on the back of wall hangable things. You know where you screw a pan head screw in the wall and your creation just slots on.
I know I’ll need a T-slot or key slot bit, but how would I create a tool path?
I could do it manually with Z down 6mm then Y up 5mm.
Thanks.
Sean.
I wondered the same thing. I even have a Dremel router bit that is the right size and shape. You will need to retrace your Yaxis travel before retracting.
Your cutter needs to have blades with 2 diameters. Larger for the bottom cut and smaller to break the surface. The upper blades will set the keyhole width. The bottom blades set the screw head clearance.
Can be confusing. Refer to Y as + and - (preferred), or forward and backward.
Cheers Mike,
I know the bit I need. Just wondered how to create a tool path to get the desired effect. I know I would need to retrace the Y travel. If not it’ll just be a pocket (which is easy LOL)
Agree about the Y+/- way to relay movement rather than up / down. My bad.
Anyway, still none the wiser how to create the key slot thingy (What is the right word for it?) unless I move manually 
Sean.
No harm, no foul. 
I am guessing you are asking how to program it. I will have to get back to you on this. 
set z at 0 top of materal, then on operation start a 6?mm and move Y in the direction or x in the direction with a “profile” operation.
Thanks.
Will that return the bit to its original position and retract it?
Sean
Any time I am trying out a design for the first time, I cut air. I run it without a tool in the spindle to make sure there are no surprises.
AND** that is after I slow view it in the Preview window.**
Don’t ask, test it yourself.
I make a rectangle with a height of 3/4 inch and a width of .001 inch. I then Convert it to a path and remove the bottom line then crate a profile cut along the line. I do a plunge to 3/8 inch, this causes the bit to plunge straight down run up the line across the top and back down the other side then rise out of the project. With the width only being .001 it is impossible to identify.
Hope this helps.
Simpler to use a router and bit I would think?
key_hole.mage (5.0 KB)
I have a go at this. Thanks.
Sean
How I did it was use a keyhole bit, Then you need to find center mark on material then make a plunge cut to the depth you want. then make a northbound path as long as necessary. (depends on cutter diameter and thickness)at the top of northbound pas go either left or right, doesn’t matter and go a very small distance. As small as yo can go. Then go back south to where you started. I you draw these instructions on apiece of paper large size you will see what it looks like. The bit plunges goes up the reverses and retracts.
You’d have to draw the path as two lines - One from start to end, and one from end back to start. We don’t have the ability to set retraction speed in the software, so it would do a full speed lift at the end of a single-direction line, and that would be too fast, so you’ll want it to come back out the hole it went in.
If you want to guarantee the entry point, use the ‘Start Point’ tool and click on the start. The blue arrow is the starting point:
That “line” is actually two on top of each other, drawn by clicking the start, the end, and then the start again, then hitting Esc.
If I pull the ends apart, you get the above ^
Do a profile, ‘Along Line’, with the Final Depth and Depth Per Pass set identically, with a Plunge entry.
In the preview it will look like a slot (we don’t handle undercuts), and if you’ve done it right you’ll see the entry and exit lines are the same, like this:
Wow. Thanks for this in depth explanation. This kind of support is why I have paid for Lightburn and thinking of doing the same for MillMage.
Sean
Don’t think, do! Just remember the output control (operations) are very different but the designer is the same.
Erm, that’s why this is in the MillMage section lol
