The Amp Garage

I have another rookie question. How important is it to pre-drill holes prior to applying tolex? I've seen videos where the holes are pre-drilled. Once tolex is applied, a heated awl is used to open the hole in the tolex. They say that this process prevents a screw from messing up tolex.

It doesn't seem like this would be practical for holes in components like corner pieces and rubber feet.

What do you experts do?

Thanks in advance!

I drill first. After vinyl, I find the holes and cut matching circles in the vinyl with an Xacto blade.

Haven't done it yet but plan to soon. I'll drill then use an old tip on my soldering iron, then keep the (probably ruined) tip for future plastic melting tasks. If I miss any holes I'll melt one with the soldering iron prior to drilling.

GAStan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 27, 2024 7:08 pm Haven't done it yet but plan to soon. I'll drill then use an old tip on my soldering iron, then keep the (probably ruined) tip for future plastic melting tasks. If I miss any holes I'll melt one with the soldering iron prior to drilling.

You may be overthinking this. I'd just puncture the vinyl to ease finding the hole with the screw. You risk making a hump you don't want with the heat. Cutting a hole like Xtian says is OK, too. If you have a small size leather punch that might also be a good choice. I'd assess the risk of fraying as low enough that I wouldn't create a solution in search of a problem.

Phil_S wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:55 pm You may be overthinking this.

This is certainly possible, I've done it before.

I don't think any small hump will be an issue as it would be covered by a corner fitting, handle hardware, foot/slider or finishing washer. To me the soldering iron is just more convenient than heating an awl as suggested in a prior post and, for me, preferable to cutting. In this case the melted edge is more of an added benefit rather than the goal, I agree that fraying shouldn't be an issue with a cut or punched edge.

That said, I haven't actually done this yet. I very well may change my mind once I get a good whiff of the melted tolex...

Thank you for your post Phil_S, it allowed me to rethink my overthunk thinking

Here's a pic from #124. Melted, punched or cut hole in tolex?