End-grain slit

An end-grain slit is a narrow slit straight into one of the two ends of a part, along the grain, for a steel plate.

Kerf width 6 mm

Kerf width 10 mm

Kerf width 16 mm

End-grain slit. Drawn by the editor's own geometry code, in the end view as seen from outside; right: the carved part in 3D, seen from that end.

When to use it

Use it for the knife plate of a post shoe or a hidden steel connector: the plate slides into the end of the part and dowels or bolts through the part hold it. Set Kerf width to the plate and its play, 10 mm for an 8 mm plate.

Through the section or hidden

Leave Length empty and the slit runs through the section along the direction Length along names, from one long face to the other, open at both: the usual slit for a plate that shows at the top and the bottom. Set a Length and the slit is hidden in the end, as long as that and centred on its point. See End faces.

Only a square end with no joint running out of it takes work; an end that does not is greyed out in the Face list, with the reason.

Fields

Field	Unit	Range or options	Default	What it changes
Face		Face at start, Face at end	Face at start	The end the slit goes into.
Height (from the bottom)	mm	from 0	60	Middle of the slit, up from the bottom of the part. Through the section along the height it is not a place, and the field is hidden. Shown only for some settings of the other fields.
Width (from the back)	mm	from 0	60	Middle of the slit, in from the back of the part. Through the section across the width it is not a place, and the field is hidden.
Kerf width	mm	from 1	10	Width of the slit: the plate and its play.
Depth (along the grain)	mm	from 1	150	How deep the slit goes, measured from the end of the part.
Length along		Height, Width	Height	Whether the slit runs up the height or across the width of the section.
Length	mm	from 1	Through the section	Empty runs the slit through the section. Set, the slit is hidden and this long.

Default: what Add fills in on a 3000 mm part of 120 x 120 mm.

Add one

Select the part in the Parts list.
In the drawing, pick Face at start or Face at end under Side.
Under Extra processings, click Add and pick End-grain slit. It goes through the middle of that end, along the larger side of the section.
Set Kerf width and Depth (along the grain) to the plate.
Drag it into place, or set its position. Set a Length for a hidden slit.
Check that the part shows a green check. If not, open the Issues tab.

A slit stays in its end: on a long face a slit is a Slot or a Saw incision of its own. Turned in its end, a slit goes a quarter at a time, and Length along swaps.

Machine export

Format	Status	Details
BTLx	Partly supported	Slot on reference side 5 or 6, through the section or hidden. No BTLx file shows a slot in an end yet, so it is placed as on a long face, and the export notes this without blocking.
BVN (Hundegger)	Partly supported	Experimental, included with a warning unless you leave them out: a slit through the section, as the lengthwise slot (operation 0800) on the long face it opens. A hidden slit has no operation and is listed as a machining loss.
BVX2 (Hundegger)	Partly supported	A slit through the whole height or width, at either part end, as a Slit on the long face it opens, with a warning in the file. This removes the same stock as CAMBIUM's native conversion, but our BVX output has not been confirmed on a controller. A hidden slit, with a finite length within the section, remains experimental as a Pocket in the end face, included with a warning unless you leave it out.
BTL 10.6	Supported	250 contour in a rigid end reference plane, through the section or hidden.

BTL status describes what the specification can represent. CAMBIUM imported our earlier BTL test files; confirmation applies to the tested forms and build. See BTL coverage for representation and receiver caveats.