Tech tip for restoration type builds

[cybrfire]

If your putting in new carpet into a daily driver or a restoration type of deal I got a tech tip for ya.

Got to the point in the crew cab build where it was time to cut holes in the carpet for bolt holes and seat belt holes and so on.

Rather than hack at it with razor blade or a scissors of some sort here's what we did.

We grabbed a 1" Hole saw and removed the pilot bit. Chucked the hole saw in a lathe (if you left the drill bit in and chucked it in a drill bit this will still work.) Spin the hole saw and grind the teeth off. (Good to use an old hole saw.) Then with it spinning grind the new toothless edge of the hole saw at an angle to sharpen it. Go over it again with a file to remove the burs inside and out.

Now put in a point sharpened 1/4" rod rather than a drill bit pilot and secure with the set screw.

Locate your bolt hole in the floor and punch the 1/4" sharpened rod pilot through the hole and pull the trigger on your drill. The sharpened hole saw works just like a rotary razor blade. Nice clean hole in the carpet. No snagging or grabbing. You may need to waller the hole saw back and forth to compensate for some of the floor countours.

Should this have been in the tools forum? Eh, whichever.

 

[70jimmy]

For bolt holes and the like in carpet use empty shell casings. They come in various sizes and just smack them with a hammer and they will punch out a nice hole in the carpet.

 

[cybrfire]

For bolt holes and the like in carpet use empty shell casings. They come in various sizes and just smack them with a hammer and they will punch out a nice hole in the carpet.

I've heard of doing that for gasket making but not for carpet. Seems the hole would be kinda smallish. I wouldn't have anything around in the way of shell casings larger than a .40. I guess a piece of tubing could be worked the same way.

 

[Muddytazz]

I use .45s, .357s and 30.06 casing when I have to.

 

[pauly383]

An old soldering iron works too , kinda melts the carpet so it cant tear ( carpet is plastic ) , like cauterizes it into a nice hole

 

[RockinChevy]

All of these are great tips. I had trouble feeling for bolt holes and cutting with razor blades.
Sadly enough, the 1 1/2 year old carpet is coming out....

 

[jms]

An old soldering iron works too , kinda melts the carpet so it cant tear ( carpet is plastic ) , like cauterizes it into a nice hole

Ditto about using a little heat. When I did my interior, I couldn't feel where the seat bolt holes were due to all that insulation. My solution was to use an old screwdrive sharpened to a point, heat it up w/ a torch, get under the truck, and push it through the bolt holes from underneath.

 

[k5/jimmy]

I used an old lunch heated with a propane torch and pushed thru the bolt holes

 

[tenderfoot]

FYI, another way to keep the hole saw from grabbing, ripping & tearing is put the drill in reverse.

 

[HankScorpio]

A hollow punch in a drill press is how I put holes in Sno-Cat track belting. No trouble in 1/2" thick rubber conveyor belting, nice clean holes. This is a great way to get holes in any rubber or plastic material that might tear or not clear chips out. A drill bit in rubber just doesn't work.