# Wall hanger slot?



## L Town Graphics (May 24, 2012)

Wasn't sure how to categorize this post nor if it is even doable (with a router or the tools I own), but does anyone have a tutorial or instructions on how to make that slot on the back of a plack or picture frame to be hung on the wall with a nail. The type that the head of the nail would fit in and would either slide up or to the side to hang. Thanks in advance for the help


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## Jerry Bowen (Jun 25, 2011)

I do what you are talking about all of time. I use a keyhole bit in my router, the router is mounted in a router table. The bit is one that cuts about a half inch hole with the top cutters and the shank below the cutters is maybe a quarter inch in diameter. You will need a piece of scrap that is the width and thickness of the board that you want to cut into, you will use this scrap to set the depth of your cut. You then have to estimate the depth of cut to start with and when yu are ready to make the test cut the bit has to be plunged into the material and after it is plunged all the way, you begin to feed the materal away from you letting the small shank cut the slot after the top cuttoer have made the larger hole. The larger part of bit will be cutting deeper in the workpiece below the narrower slot making room for the head of the nail or what ever you use to hand the picture of plaque on. Adjust th e height of the bit until you get the results that you want and then go to your project. Make the slot about three inches long with the center of the slot near the center of your board. I like to use a wood screw with a head large enough to go through the intial large hole and then when the picture is slid along the shank of the wood screw, the head is retained in the slot and holds the picture tight and solid against the wall so that it cannot fall. Hope this works for you

Jerry
Colorado City, TX


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

L Town Graphics said:


> Wasn't sure how to categorize this post nor if it is even doable (with a router or the tools I own), but does anyone have a tutorial or instructions on how to make that slot on the back of a plack or picture frame to be hung on the wall with a nail. The type that the head of the nail would fit in and would either slide up or to the side to hang. Thanks in advance for the help


Hi Dan - What you're asking about is a keyhole bit. I use them in conjunction with a template because I like to put a groove in first and then put the hole(s) at the end of the groove along with the undercut. I scraped the pics off the eagle america website but they are pretty common items. Just google "keyhole router bits" or "picture hanger router bits" I normally do this with a hand held plunge router


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

Jerry Bowen said:


> I do what you are talking about all of time. I use a keyhole bit in my router, the router is mounted in a router table. The bit is one that cuts about a half inch hole with the top cutters and the shank below the cutters is maybe a quarter inch in diameter. You will need a piece of scrap that is the width and thickness of the board that you want to cut into, you will use this scrap to set the depth of your cut. You then have to estimate the depth of cut to start with and when yu are ready to make the test cut the bit has to be plunged into the material and after it is plunged all the way, you begin to feed the materal away from you letting the small shank cut the slot after the top cuttoer have made the larger hole. The larger part of bit will be cutting deeper in the workpiece below the narrower slot making room for the head of the nail or what ever you use to hand the picture of plaque on. Adjust th e height of the bit until you get the results that you want and then go to your project. Make the slot about three inches long with the center of the slot near the center of your board. I like to use a wood screw with a head large enough to go through the intial large hole and then when the picture is slid along the shank of the wood screw, the head is retained in the slot and holds the picture tight and solid against the wall so that it cannot fall. Hope this works for you
> 
> Jerry
> Colorado City, TX


what he said ^^


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## L Town Graphics (May 24, 2012)

Thanks for the info guys! I appreciate it


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

I forgot to mention. Some of those bits don't have cutters on the small diameter. If you get one of those, you must run a groove first. Also, you need to pay attention to the large diameter as well as the small diameter to make sure your hanger hardware will fit.


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

the Freud keyhole bit DOES have cutters on both diameters, so it is designed to do the whole thing in one pass.

And I found it at my local Home Depot.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Chris Curl said:


> the Freud keyhole bit DOES have cutters on both diameters, so it is designed to do the whole thing in one pass.
> 
> And I found it at my local Home Depot.


Hi Chris - Most I have seen do. I have a couple of different sizes and I'm not sure exactly where I got the one that doesn't but they do exist. I think I saw one from Rockler that didn't. Just wanted to heads up for anyone shopping for one. 
The main reason I like to run a slot first is the overall configuration of the thing. Same with dovetail bits, a relatively large cutting diameter with a substantially smaller shank doesn't appear to me to be the most robust design. Running a slot first just removes the lions share of waste. I do the same with sliding dovetails, hog out most of the waste with a straight bit and then put the sides in with a dovetail. Just a personal preference.


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