Drilling through the headliner?

Has anyone had any trouble drilling through the headliner? I'm installing a Homelink and need to drill through the headliner for the buttons. I have dropped the headliner down so I won't go through the roof. The concern I have is will the headliner pull threads like drilling through carpet (strings wrapping around the drill bit).

 

I once observed, somewhat amusedly, a mechanic drill through a piece of metal sitting on a cloth. This resulted in an amazing display of how quickly a drill bit could wrap a cloth totally around it while simultaneously slinging everything on it far away.

I wouldn’t do it personally.

 

I've drilled carpet, it'll prob. work...or not.

 

I would use a wood burner to burn the holes, I guess a soldering iron would also work. This will create the holes and also stop it from fraying. I have never done this with a headliner but I do this for my ratchet strap ends.

 

Ahem Though if it were me, I'd rather use a hand tool:

$8 United Scientific Supplies CBST03 Cork Borer

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1X0S0P

 

I like that idea Rock Lobster, I have a hollow punch set. I guess I'll have to fully remove the headliner. It's most of the way out, I only have a couple more steps. I'm hoping i won't have to remove the seats to fully remove it.

 

Just lower it enough to slide a 1" wood block (or plywood even) on the other side. That gives you a solid platform to cut on while preserving your bit.

 

Looks good, you could maybe pull the headline down enough to get a 2x4 behind it and punch into that, I think that would prevent damage to the roof hopefully.

 

I actually didn't look at the Harbor Freight link until a couple of minutes ago. My punches are for a hammer and block, which is why I thought Id have to fully remove the liner. I'm going to invest on those drill type tomorrow. Thanks so much.

 

Sharpened copper or any tube diameter cut to length is a good poor man's hole cutting bit.
Burn the edges when your done as noted before and you'll be solid!

Can't wait to see how it went.

 

Well, it didn't turn out as well as hoped. I ended up having to remove the entire headliner. The trim piece kept popping off. The headliner was too thick. I had to remove a piece of the backing. I finally completed the project. Since I had it all apart I also ran direct power to my dash cam. I had to disassemble the power adapter and solder the I.C. card to the 12V power as my dash cam is only 5V. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out...
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ee454/C-141/Pic.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds