I'm sharing a technique I used to hang a plaque I made for some coaches.

I did not want to use 3/4" Cherry and buy a Keyhole Router Bit, since I already had some Cherry veneer over MDF.

Instead, I used a couple of backplates of MDF to make my own, cheap keyhole for hanging.

I build my stuff at TechShop in San Jose...

Step 1: The Keyhole

Let's build a Keyhole in CorelDraw.

1. Build a .25" circle

2. Build a .5" circle

3. Connect the circles by dragging the center X of the small circle to the top Node of the large circle.

4. Select both circles

5. Combine the two circles: Arrange --> Combine

6. Weld the two circles: Arrange --> Shaping --> Weld

Step 2: The Keyhole and the Circle

I made a .75" circle to go with my keyhole.

This size can vary - a larger circle would allow for a larger head on the screw that will hang the plaque on the wall.

Step 3: Prepare All the Parts...

I am not describing here how to design the large circle (this is used as the plaque front, the middle sheet, and the backplate) or the alignment diamonds or the vertical line to help align things...

Here are all the parts...

Alignment diamonds - these are used to align all 3 plates.

Plaque front - made of .25" material, it contains whatever design and the alignment diamonds

Middle sheet - made of .25" material, it contains alignment diamonds and the large circle

Backplate - made of .25" material, it contains alignment diamonds and the keyhole.

Step 4: Put Everything Together...

Here's where alignment will happen...

I dragged the bottom node of the keyhole to the .75" circle's bottom node, and placed these on the centerline of the plaque's circle.

Step 5: The Plaque...

For the plaque - the front - remove the keyhole and .75" circle.

In addition to whatever rastering, the vector drawing sent to the laser will look like this...

For my plaques, I was able to hide each alignment diamond in a feature - a large star.

Step 6: The Middle Plate...

The middle plate will look like this...

Step 7: The Backplate...

And the Backplate will look like this...

I used 2 alignment pins made of MDF, sized for the material I was using... Since the pins were cut on the laser, they are just as dark as the drawing and text, and hide very well.

Cut and glue them all together, and they will be ready to hang on a wall!!