Anyone "X-Acto" their Bumpers?

I think you're better off taking a set of progressively larger drill bits to the hole.

 

I would use a wood carving or linoleum cutting tool. Drill bit would be way too messy on a semi-flexible material.

 

I'll be using my dremel to enlarge the surprisingly small dock connector slot on my free bumper.

 

If you have a dremel laying around it is an easy fix that takes no longer than 30 seconds or so

 

I think it makes more sense just to shave the tip of the headphones plug... That is what I did with both of my bose headsets...

 

When you get a bumper, you will see why you want to do it the otherway around. Trimming the dock connector plastic with a grinding bit v trying to cut out the bumper.

 

The most simple solution for a clean, controlled enlargement of the hole is to create a punch from tubular steel. You would need to sharpen the end of the punch (the sharper the better).

Then you will need to support the bumper directly under the hole using a block of wood. This should be sitting on concrete, or a very solid floor. Position the punch concentric to the existing hole, then whack it with a hammer. The best result will come from one firm hit with the hammer, not multiple attempts.

If you don't have access to a suitably sized steel tube, you may find some other utensil or thing laying around the house - for example, somebody's good pen. Also note that it's possible that the hole will end up a slightly smaller diameter than the tubular punch, so you may want to compensate for this

Actually - I don't own a bumper myself, nor have I seen one in person, so I don't know how hard the plastic/rubber is. You will have to use your judgement whether the above method is suitable (if the material is too hard if may result in cracking or splitting). Good luck.

 

I already carved out both my Monoprice usb cable and battery pack using a knife. I thought about carving it out the bottom opening on the bumper, but I said screw that. Seems much harder to do if you want to maintain the clean and original look.

 

I'll probably be dremeling the hole and also the connector dock on the bottom for my car stereo shortly. I'll have some pics for you guys next week.

 

get an old headphone jack and heat it up with a lighter, stick it in the hole and your done

 

actually a chucking reamer works well. it is made to enlarge holes in metal and works very well. it is not grabby like a drill bit would be.

 

Sounds like a good approach...