How do I drill a hole on a leather covered aluminum dash?

[rsimoes]

How do (oops typo on title) I drill a hole on a leather covered aluminum dash without having the leather wrap up on the drill bit, completely destroying everything. . .

I need to add another Lucas on-off switch. What size hole do I need by the way?

[Rick 427 Cobra]

Easy. Use painters tape to establish extended center lines and clamp a piece of wood over the vinyl. Clamp securely.
find the center and drill. Hole is 9/16"

[rokndad]

What I did was first mark the hole on the dash, and used a small X-acto knife and cut out the leather the exact size of the hole needed for the switch. (Just measure the diam with a tape measure....that'll be close enough). I thne used a stepped drill bit until it cut the hole to the just the width of the pre-cut leather. Done!

[Rick Parker]

Go to hobby shop or leather crafter. Get a round hole punch with knife like cutting edge. It may also be found at a business that sells rubber industrial belting and hoses?

[Rwillia4]

Depending on the diameter of the hole...goto home depot or mcmaster.com (page 3624) and purchase a grommet hole cutter. The key is to oversize the hole a little bit to keep the padding from grabbing the drill bit. This totally depends on the overlap of the switch.
If there is not enough of a switch lip it is a little more difficult. you will need to cut a X a little smaller then the diameter of the hole. Purchase a pipe with the inner diameter a bit bigger then the diameter of the hole, I have used copper or aluminum in the past (mcmaster.com). Cut the pipe to a length shorter then the drill bit length, 2" is usually good. You should be able to stretch the leather and the foam "tabs" of the X around the outside of the pipe, hold it flush onto the dash surface. Drill through the tube, be careful not to slam the chuck into the pipe once it cuts through or the pipe will spin...

[Murphy]

Rick Parker did what I did and it worked well. I used a snap on gasket punch kit that has a hole punch the shape of a socket only round and sharp. You can cut the leather by hand with this tool. It worked great. Don't try to just drill through the leather, you will not like the result.

[rsimoes]

Thanks for all of the ideas. . .

[Clois Harlan]

Here is one that I guarantee will work and it is fast and easy. Take a soddering iron or a hot nail and make an mark where you want the hole. The nail or pin point soddering iron will remove only enough material necessary to clear the drill. The hole for the toggle switch should only be 7/16".

The hot nail or soddering iron works great when drilling thru carpet too! Carterizes the loop in the carpet preventing the carpet from wrapping around your drill bit or screw.

Clois

[rsimoes]

Done!

I measured the exact location I wanted and size. I drew the circle with a permanent black fine tip marker. Then I used a very sharp utilitily knife (like a razor blade) and SLOWLY cut around the circle I drew.

Then I peeled the cut piece of leather off, drilled the hole smaller than I needed and used a step bit to slowly work up to the size I needed.

It turns out that I undercut the leather , so I had to trim it once again.

Then I cleaned up the back of whole and it came out absolutely perfect!

Now I need to put the switch in and vacuum. . .

Thanks again!