Keyhole routing

[Cooler]

FS7 wrote "Looks like I should temper my expectations though."

I wouldn't temper my expectations. With a jig to control the movement of the router you should get accurate and clean keyholes.

Bill

Which is stronger?  The all wood keyhole, or the metal bracket keyhole?  I guess it depends on how long the wood screws are.

[daddo]

Really how long does the keyhole need to be?  I'd just plunge the bit and move it 1/4"-  a headed nail or screw isn't going to come out unless you plan on 9.0 earthquakes.

I have a huge stock of old soda can flip tabs I use.  Classy? Maybe not. Functional? Yep.

[FS7]

Which is stronger?  The all wood keyhole, or the metal bracket keyhole?  I guess it depends on how long the wood screws are.

That depends on how deep the keyhole is. Most woods, if the keyhole is deep enough, are going to be stronger than the pullout strength of the screws. I'd guess anyway. If it's really shallow, then the bracket would be stronger.

In any case I realize these things aren't seen and the strength is far beyond what they will see in use so it doesn't make much sense to stress about it. If routing a keyhole were quick and easy, I could make the case that it's faster than the bracket. Maybe.

[daddo]

The weight of the cross will be down the wall- hardly any force outward.

[Stove M]

I have successfully completed keyhole placement without a plunge router (be nice to have one!). I have drilled a hole first with a bit large enough to accept the keyhole bit, then using a guide, router with the keyhole bit.

[Steve N]

Which is stronger?  The all wood keyhole, or the metal bracket keyhole?  I guess it depends on how long the wood screws are.

I can't speak for everyone, but if questions of strength came up about a keyhole, I personally would move along to something more robust like a French Cleat. I guess that is saying a keyhole. either wood, or metal lined would have weight limitations, but you could fairly easily get 50 pounds out of one, probably more. Actually rather than the keyhole failing, it would likely be the singe screw, unless your wood just split, but I think %wise it would be screw failure.

As usual I answered before reading all the responses, so I'll double back to state I am not worried about pull out of the screw with heavy weight. I'm concerned with screw breakage. A screw seems very hard, but most are quite brittle, and they work because they are screwed in, and the surrounding material helps keep them sound. With the keyhole, obviously the head is extended, and with nothing surrounding it, the brittleness comes into play, and if overworked, they simply snap off.