I have noticed that some upholsters punch a series of holes to let the sound out when they put speakers behind the material in the kick panels.What do they use for a punch? Is there a special kit you can buy to do this? The holes are around 1/8" or so. I have a leather punch that has a series of different sized prongs that are fastened to a wheel that is turned and you squeeze like a pair of pliers. But you can only use this if the holes are close to the edge of the material. Same is true if you use a paper boys punch. Sharpening a piece of tubing is not going to get it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. RRM

I never do this method. I think it looks cheap and above all ruins the high and mid frequency response of the speaker. I choose to inlay a speaker grill flush with the panel. Looks great and sounds great too. YOu can even color match the speaker grill if necessary and their are alot of high tech looking grills out there.

But, to answer you question, you have to punch it with a hollow hole punch. Sometimes single cardboard hole punches work depending on thickness of leather etc.

Good luck.
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Steve Jack
Marketing Technologies Limited,LLC
ConceptOne Brackets and Pulleys

I actually like the look your talking about and plan on doing something like this in the door panel and kick panel on Big Olds when the time comes. I have this punch that I use for my scrapbooking that I believe might work for you. It's a punch that comes in different sizes for different size holes. You just hit the end with a hammer and you've got a hole in whatever material you've laid under it. It's pretty sharp and should go thru upholstery leather or a leather like material. I dont believe it would go thru a thick leather like a belt, but it might.

There should be a scrapbooking store near you. If I could remember what city you lived in I would have done a search for you and included the phone numbers of the closest stores. The punch was under $10. It certainly would be worth a shot.
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Your "top-less" cruzn buddy, Denise

www.loboys.com

When using a punch like this be sure to back it up with a proper pad or use the end grain of a piece of wood to keep from dulling the punch. Check out American Upholstery at http://www.atrim.com/Page45.html
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www.ridgenet.net/~biesiade