Hot tip for making mounting holes in carpet

[rustbucket66]

I had to make holes in the carpet to mount the seats. The holes were already drilled in the floor, and just the carpet needed holes made. A drill bit piles up material and tears apart the carpet, scissors or exacto knife is hard too. I used the 3 tools to do this, a pencil torch, a scribe or something pointy, and a hole punch. I poked the scribe through the carpet from underneath to show where the hole is and to use as a centering device for the hole punch. Get the tip of the hole punch real hot, then slip it over the scribe and grind it into the material. It makes a perfect hole and slightly bigger than the diameter of the hole. I had to sharpen the tip a little bit after a couple of holes. If the holes hadn't been drilled in the metal floor yet, the floor could now be drilled without the bit getting caught up in the carpet.

[62 Longbed]

Thanks for the tip ... Nice Idea ..

[64shortbox]

Rustbucket,
You should also post this great tip in the "Cheap Tricks" section. It's a great trick! Thanks for sharing!

[markeb01]

Excellent idea adding the heat to burn through and seal the carpet fibers. Thanks for sharing.

As a side note, those hole punches are a great example of the value of cheap tools. I inherited a set of Harbor Freight punches a few years back and have used them hundreds of times. In the old days I would have never bought a set, assuming they were cheap and wouldn’t last. On the other hand I would never buy an expensive set because I’d never be able to justify the cost for something I wouldn’t use very often. Now I’m a regular Harbor Freight customer!

[rideblue00]

thanks, im ready to do this and now i know how!

[jayoldschool]

Another good way is to simply put the bolts in loosely before the carpet goes in. You feel the bolt head, and know exactly where to cut the X for the bolt to pass through.

[kieth]

I have some rather large soldering irons from radio shack. I used one of the old ones poked a awl thru the hole in the floor to make it easy for the soldering iron to penetrate the carpet. the tip of the iron goes from 1/8" to 1/4" to 3/8 inch. burns right thru and the hole does not fray......