Slot

A slot is a narrow straight groove, cut along or across a face.

Depth 15 mm

Depth 30 mm

Depth 60 mm

Slot. Drawn by the editor's own geometry code; right: the carved part in 3D.

When to use it

Use a slot for a groove that holds a panel, a spline or a steel plate. Pick Lengthwise for a groove along the part and Crosswise for one across it.

Fields

Field	Unit	Range or options	Default	What it changes
Position X	mm	from 0	1400	Start of the slot along the part.
Position Y	mm	from 0	60	Position of the slot across the face.
Direction		Lengthwise, Crosswise	Lengthwise	Lengthwise runs along the part, crosswise across it.
Length	mm	from 1	200	Length of the slot.
Thickness	mm	from 1	10	Width of the groove.
Depth	mm	from 1	30	How deep the slot goes.
Face		Top, Bottom, Front, Back	Top	The side of the part the processing is on.
Splinter-free		Machine default, Off, Tool path	Machine default	Machining that keeps the edges from splintering. Machine default writes what each file normally has for that operation. BVX and BVN carry an explicit choice where the operation has the setting, and the export says so where it does not. BTLx has no such setting.

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

Add a slot

1. Select the part in the Parts list.
2. Under Extra processings, click Add.
3. Type slot in the search field and pick Slot.
4. Set Face, Position X, Position Y and Direction.
5. Set Length, Thickness and Depth.
6. Check that the part shows a green check. If not, open the Issues tab.

Caution

BVN writes a crosswise slot with the saw blade kerf, not with the thickness you set, and the export notes that this is not yet confirmed on a machine. BVX writes a lengthwise slot, and a crosswise slot that runs across the whole face as a housing. A crosswise slot over part of the face is listed for manual finishing.

Machine export

Format	Status	Details
BTLx	Partly supported	Slot, lengthwise and crosswise.
BVN (Hundegger)	Partly supported	Operation 0800 lengthwise. A crosswise slot across the whole face as operation 0109, a saw cut the width of the blade (6 mm on the shop's machine), not the thickness you set, with a note in the file. A crosswise slot that stops inside its face is listed as a machining loss: CAMBIUM runs the saw on past both ends of the line, about 140 mm at 25 mm deep, so it would cut through the edges.
BVX2 (Hundegger)	Partly supported	A lengthwise slot as Slit, and a crosswise slot across the whole face as a housing (Slot). A crosswise slot over part of the face is listed as manual finishing.
BTL 10.6	Supported	016 lengthwise and crosswise slots, partial or full face, with bounded kerf and depth.

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.

Related pages

• Notch: Cut a notch or rebate into a face over part of the length. Angle, width, depth and limits, with defaults and machine export.
• Mortise: A rectangular housing cut into a face to take a tenon, square, turned or leaning. Fields, defaults, how to add one and how each machine format exports it.
• Trestle bench with mortise and tenon: A garden trestle bench whose uprights, bearers, feet and stretcher join with matching mortises and tenons, plus a groove for seat buttons.
• Birdsmouth: Cut a birdsmouth so a rafter or purlin sits on its support. Point, depth, seat and heel angles, with defaults and machine export.
• Dovetail socket: Cut a dovetail socket into a long face, with a flank angle and a square or round closed end. Fields, limits and machine export.
• End-grain recess: A flat seat let into the end of a part for a steel base plate, square in the section. With a bore in its floor it makes a post base.