bet you haven't tried this

[pa glass]

I had a 2012 gr Cherokee today. Very tight spacing with underside trim. I managed to get my cold knife in but it was too short to cut through. No way the longer blade was going to get in there. I remembered that I had a 5/16 carbide hole saw. I used Gorilla tape to protect the paint, lubed it up with glass cleaner and bore a perfect hole up against the top. I then had a perfect entry point for the longer blade. Still used an air express on the lower few inches of the sides. I guess I have been doing this about twenty four years, still find something new to try now and then. I will also be using this method to get a wire started when it's so tight you can barely see the end of the wire starter poking through if you start on a side.

[pa glass]

Gosh, what a fun and lively group we have here. Honestly? Not one comment from the lot of you? How about something like, Yeah I thought about that and never got to try it. Thanks for the idea, I'll give that a try. Was it difficult to get the piece of glass you cut off of the urethane bed? Is it hard to hold the bit steady? Or maybe some of you have been doing that for years.

What's the point of sharing techniques if no one comments, good or bad? Can I suppose that no one will comment on this post as well?

This forum is like a sub on silent running.

[Windshield911]

I have never had problems using duct tape to protect paint or tear off pieces of rubber or foam and tape on corners of hood. You can put tape on pants and take off to get rid of a lot of the stickiness but will still stick to car and have air pockets for added protection. I like the btb tool and fein knife and use cold knifes also to cut out.

[pa glass]

Thanks for the response 911. Here's the thing though. You kind of missed the "hole" thing my post was about. I wasn't referring to "how to protect paint with duct tape". It is a completely different subject altogether.

Picture if you will the top of a shield. Often times there is only a slight gap between the glass and the roof line. While it may be enough that you could pull a cold knife along it,once it was inserted, it is not enough room to get the blade started. In this case I could get the smaller one, half inch, in but it wasn't long enough to cut all the way through. The long blade would certainly go through but could never get in to such a narrow gap. You could try to enter from a side but then you have to push the knife along the top until you could reach it from the other side so that you could go back to pulling it. I tried that but it is much harder to "push" a cold knife than to pull it and this time I just could not get it going and I started to fear if I push more I might slip out and gouge the paint. I also felt it was risky to use an air knife from the inside for fear of visible scratches. In the past I have once or twice just put the smaller blade in and forced the glass to break out in order to gain enough room to insert the longer cold knife blade. This can work but it's messy and unsafe. This time I used the hole saw that I happened to have and got a nice clean hole for and entry point with out any dangerous fractured glass to deal with. I did mention tape but it was simply to protect the roof line right where i was drilling just to be safe. The post had nothing to do with the tape it's self or protecting the hood in any way. Off hand if you have not tried Gorilla tape you may want to pick up a role. It is twice as thick as regular duct tape and is fantastic for protecting the hoods corners. I hope this more detailed version explains what I did a little better to everyone. I will attempt to post a pic when my wife shows me how, again.

[Windshield911]

Would like to see the pic. Yeah, sometimes trying to read from mobile phone its a little more difficult to read and then post what I want to post.

[pa glass]

Okay, got it. Here is the picture. It's a little smaller than a dime. That's the top of the urethane inside the hole. I used this method again today on a Yukon. It just has the underside molding and I hate to risk the air knife from inside. It's easy to slip the long cold knife blade under the glass at the bottom of the hole. I place the hole in the middle so I can reach from either side and can then pull the knife to the sides. I still have a piece of Gorilla tape in this pic protecting the paint above the drilling.

Off subject, I finally got to try out my Lil Buddy with a 1293 like they use in the demo. First time I ever did one by my self.

[adam@gtglass]

I think that's a clever way to get in there.

Nice work!

[pa glass]

Thank you sir.
Incidentally, I have also used this approach to use a wire starter when the gape is so thin that you can not push through enough to get to the hook. The hook is an eighth inch back from the end of the tool and some times the end hits the metal in that short of a distance.