Key holder plaque

[Pratyeka]

Just sold this one today. Carved on dark walnut with three coats of varathane. Note the keyholes at the back to hang it on the wall. Made with the special bit, just set the bit selection to 3/8 straight. Why three? Gives you a choice of how solid it will be on the wall. If you have heavy use, like many people with heavy keychains, then you would hang it with 2 screws. Use the top hole for light use.

[Kenm810]

Looks really good, Nice job

Barb Pestered me to make one for the wall near our back door a couple of years ago.
------ Funny I haven't lost my keys anymore since I put it up. http://forum.carvewright.com/images/icons/icon11.gif

[geekviking]

Which special bit?
Someone have a keyhole for sale for us?

[www.go3d.us]

Which special bit?
Someone have a keyhole for sale for us?

Harbor freight has some: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43695

[Kenm810]

I use a Carbide one I bought a our local WoodCraft Store - around $15.00

[geekviking]

Gonna have picture hanger holes in my projects now! :D

[Pratyeka]

I find that letting the machine do the hanger holes does a better job than I can. Also less hassle. To do a good hanger hole by hand requires securing the project on a table with 3 router guides (start, lenght and stop), and a steady hand. My first two projects with hanger holes were nowhere near this nice. Selecting the 3/8 straight bit in designer makes the spindle move with just the right speed for this kind of bit. I will use this technique for all my future projects that will hang on a wall.

[Dhaffner]

That's a really great tip!
I've been doing them with a little hand held router and guide and it takes time to get right. I'll give it a whirl.

[rhendrix]

Here are a couple of key hangers I have made. I have done a lot of different designs for my shop on the internet ( http://expressionsNwood.etsy.com ). They also have the key hole slots in the back for hanging. I use my WoodRat to cut my key holes. A great machine that goes well with the CarveWright. Many people use these in the kitchen to hang measuring cups and measuring spoons on.

[mtylerfl]

Just sold this one today. Carved on dark walnut with three coats of varathane. Note the keyholes at the back to hang it on the wall. Made with the special bit, just set the bit selection to 3/8 straight. Why three? Gives you a choice of how solid it will be on the wall. If you have heavy use, like many people with heavy keychains, then you would hang it with 2 screws. Use the top hole for light use.

Great tip and great project! Thank you for sharing!

[mtylerfl]

Here are a couple of key hangers I have made. I have done a lot of different designs for my shop on the internet ( http://expressionsNwood.etsy.com ). They also have the key hole slots in the back for hanging. I use my WoodRat to cut my key holes. A great machine that goes well with the CarveWright. Many people use these in the kitchen to hang measuring cups and measuring spoons on.

Those both look fantastic! I love the finish. What stain and the clearcoat did you use on them?

[rhendrix]

Those both look fantastic! I love the finish. What stain and the clearcoat did you use on them?


Thank you. I use different finishes from time to time. These are both Walnut so I used a walnut stain. Most of the time I use a hand rubbed oil finish (mixture of tung oil and poly) but on these I just sprayed them with Poly shade in walnut which is made by Cabot and it is a walnut stain mixed with polyurathane. The secret to using this is to sand the project well before you begin applying the finish and then sand it between each coat but not the final coat. I use a 320 grit sanding mop on my drill press to sand these and they turn out slick as a button.

[Wild Bill]

Just sold this one today. Carved on dark walnut with three coats of varathane. Note the keyholes at the back to hang it on the wall. Made with the special bit, just set the bit selection to 3/8 straight. Why three? Gives you a choice of how solid it will be on the wall. If you have heavy use, like many people with heavy keychains, then you would hang it with 2 screws. Use the top hole for light use.

Very nice design. How do you prevent it from tilting when the one screw option is used? Seems just a couple of keys hung off center would be enough to tilt it.

[mtylerfl]

Thank you. I use different finishes from time to time. These are both Walnut so I used a walnut stain. Most of the time I use a hand rubbed oil finish (mixture of tung oil and poly) but on these I just sprayed them with Poly shade in walnut which is made by Cabot and it is a walnut stain mixed with polyurathane. The secret to using this is to sand the project well before you begin applying the finish and then sand it between each coat but not the final coat. I use a 320 grit sanding mop on my drill press to sand these and they turn out slick as a button.

Thank you for sharing your technique. You are right - slick as a button! Beautiful job!

[RayTrek]

Pratyeka.

Thanks for sharing your project and the how to. Well done!

Rhendrix,

Looking good the walnut is one of my favorites to work with
Ray

[Pratyeka]

Very nice design. How do you prevent it from tilting when the one screw option is used? Seems just a couple of keys hung off center would be enough to tilt it.

I make sure the screw is adjusted so that you have to apply some force on the plaque to slide it into position, The friction holds it in place. If not, a piece of double-sided tape along the bottom should do.

[Dan-Woodman]

or you could rout your keyhole slot horizontally.
later Daniel

[Pratyeka]

or you could rout your keyhole slot horizontally.
later Daniel

I don't think that would help, everytime you get a key chain off or on the plaque would move, no?

Maybe I should have specified these are for hanging those set of keys the one would carry in their pocket, house key + car keys+ locker keys+ key chain+pocket flashlight etc... they get heavy8-)

[lawrence]

Pratyeka,
Could you please explain how you employ the CW to cut the keyholes? As I understand it, you plunge the bit in, move it to the "top" of the piece (1/2 inch or so) and then pull the piece back to the original position and then unplunge the bit. How do you accomplish this on the CW?

I did not know I could control the bit travel in such a manner, but I am extremely new at this.

Thank you in advance
Lawrence

[dvel56]

Please explain how you set the keyhole up to carve forward and then back out agian
also what do you set the depth to?

Thank
Dvel

[Pratyeka]

Depth depends on the bit you get. Mine has a 1/8 thick cutter, so I generally go for 1/4 depth, that leaves 1/8 of wood between the surface and the channel.
As for how to make the machine rout in and out at the same location, just use polyline, start where the bit will go in, trace the line up the desired lenght, click there, go sideways a bit (.010" is good), click there, go back down as close as possible to the starting point without touching it, click there, right click to exit the polyline. Select 3/8" straight bit, enter your depth and you are done. I use extreme magnification to adjust the .010" part. There might be other ways to achieve the same thing.
Experiment on scrap wood before using this on your project is always a good thing to do;)

[lawrence]

Awesome, I can't wait to try this.... I hate cutting keyholes with a hand held router

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge,
Lawrence

[Shacky]

Depth depends on the bit you get. Mine has a 1/8 thick cutter, so I generally go for 1/4 depth, that leaves 1/8 of wood between the surface and the channel.
As for how to make the machine rout in and out at the same location, just use polyline, start where the bit will go in, trace the line up the desired lenght, click there, go sideways a bit (.010" is good), click there, go back down as close as possible to the starting point without touching it, click there, right click to exit the polyline. Select 3/8" straight bit, enter your depth and you are done. I use extreme magnification to adjust the .010" part. There might be other ways to achieve the same thing.
Experiment on scrap wood before using this on your project is always a good thing to do;)

Here's a bump for an old thread I ran across where it is being described how to make a key hole.

I'm just wondering if it couldn't be made into a pattern so that it could just be grabbed from the pattern library anytime you needed a keyhole?

[dbfletcher]

Here's a bump for an old thread I ran across where it is being described how to make a key hole.

I'm just wondering if it couldn't be made into a pattern so that it could just be grabbed from the pattern library anytime you needed a keyhole?

I cant see how.... as it has to be a vector operation. The bit plunges... move a certain distance, and then returns to the starting position.

I did post an MPC in another thread that i use as more or less a vector "pattern"... just cut and paste... it has other lines that serve as documentation so you know "kindof" what the keyhole will look when finished.

Doug Fletcher

[Shacky]

Thanks, Doug

I found this thread; http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=13483&highlight=keyhole

Post #9. I'm guessing that's the one you mean.

I look forward to trying it!

[dbfletcher]

Thanks, Doug

I found this thread; http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=13483&highlight=keyhole

Post #9. I'm guessing that's the one you mean.

I look forward to trying it!

Yep.. that was it. Sorry I was too lazy to look for it last nite! Any time I need a keyhole, I just load the mpc, and copy/paste it from that project to the one i want. Not quite as easy as from the pattern library, but not too bad either. Iam pretty sure someome has also already suggested to lhr, that a new option be created for a 'vector pattern library" as well.

Doug Fletcher