When equipping a new sport route is there any specific drill which is recommended?
I'm guessing prolific bolters own their own kit. But if you were reequipping a route/placing a handful of bolts do people hire them?
I was thinking of going to HSS hire and getting a cordless masonry drill? Would this be suitable (I imagine the batteries only do a few holes, so require plenty of spares?)
Would there be any reason not to just use a masonry drill, extension cable and a mini-generator...or is that just super uncool/impractical?
Drill bit wise, i'm guessing any drill bit is fine (assuming it matches the recommendation for the specific bolt being placed?)
I have hired and borrowed drills both electric and battery powered. Unless the rock is very hard the battery powered SDS drills with masonary drills are great. You should be able to equip a single pitch route with one battery.
Is it worth going on a bolting apprenticeship? I know glue-ins can be a bit more technical and there's a few things to observe.
Or if it's a case of expansions, do you drill hole, blow hole clean (compressed air) put in bolt and tighten to the right recommendation with a torque spanner?
> Is it worth going on a bolting apprenticeship? I know glue-ins can be a bit more technical and there's a few things to observe.
In Finland you need to do a course before you can get bolts and borrow the drill from the national climbing association. Isn't EVERYONE using glue-ins now? I thought expansion bolts were considered bad practice these days - but having helped friends equip routes (I was just cleaning), I think you owe those who climb the route to know what you're doing - so should have some sort of training?
Glue-in bolts are always better but expansions have their place and with the correct selection of type for the environment are very quick and convenient.
For essential reading look no further than the Bolt Products pages. http://www.bolt-products.com/Glue-inBoltDesign.htm
The BMC also have informative downloads.
The BMC's Better Bolts Campaign have in the past run bolt workshops but this was to assist local bolt funds not to help random people armed with drills.
I have placed 1 glue in under supervision. I know the theory but fully admit I'm FAR from expert. The reason I'm leaning to expansion is they seem much simpler
I know glue ins are a superior product but thought marine grade stainless 12mm expansion were still considered okay? At the crag in hoping to add a line, several new routes were put up in 2013 on expansions?
Yeah Jim's website has proved very useful already. I'm planning to buy all the bolts and hangers from him. I particularly like his new rounded hangers, such an obvious but smart innovation
Yes, definitely hire a 24v cordless if only doing a limited amount. When hiring ask for a Bosch GBH24, Makita BHR200, DeWalt DC233 or similar - so that the hire centre will know the type of drill spec you need. Smaller 24v drills than these just aren't up to the job IMHO. If they offer you a 36v one, then take it; it'll get the job done quicker. Also, as you won't know the state of the battery that'll come with it, ask for two.
These drills are big/ heavy/ unwieldy so you'll need a lanyard/ sling to attach it to your harness as it'll be dangling off your belay loop between holes.
If replacing bolts, then positioning is easier than if making first-time placements. If doing the latter, shunt or top-rope the line in order to work out the best placements for the bolts and mark the position for drilling the holes. Perhaps consider drilling a practice hole or two in some random rock [not the cliff itself! ] if unsure or unfamiliar with the process.
Drill all holes in one go and use a bolt to check that each hole is deep enough before moving on to the next. You can also tape some insulating tape on the bit as a rough depth marker. If placing glue-ins, you'll need a long 12mm SDS masonry bit. Best have a spare bit too. Unless there's an over-riding reason for not doing so, then I'd use glue-in bolts. (We now only use Jim Titt's SST twisted leg bolts. They're an excellent design and easy to place too.) Wear a face mask if bothered by the thought of inhaling some dust.
You'll need polyester ANCHOR resin cartridges, an applicator gun, a few mixing nozzles, hole cleaning brush and an air pump. The cartridges and nozzles are consumables but my guess is you'll need to buy all of these bits unless you can borrow them. Applicator guns are oversized and aren't particularly cheap to buy. The cartridges aren't cheap either, but can be bought for less on-line than from builders' merchants. The gun will also need a lanyard, as will the compressed air hand pump.
Study and follow the instructions that come with the cartridge, particularly re. the colour of the mixed resin. Note that not all brands of resin are the same. Some are not recommended for use in marine settings. If in doubt, use Fischer cartridges. One cartridge should easily be enough for a couple of routes.
Glueing is a messy old business and I suggest you carry a towel with you or wear an old pair of trousers that can be used for hand-wiping and then thrown away. Whether you're very careful and wear latex gloves or not, the glue will inevitably get everywhere as you'll put too much resin in the hole to begin with and so you'll need to wipe the excess on something - preferably not the rock or on the bolt eye! With practice, it does get easier to gauge how much resin to squeeze into the hole.
If you do this on abseil, then more than likely the resin in the lower off bolts will have cured by the time you're glueing in the last (first) bolt above the ground. If you're impatient, you can probably climb the route about 1.5 hours afterwards. This route was climbed within this sort of time-frame - http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=243563 - with an unexpected leader fall when a hold broke off. The bolt held fine. Both first and second ascents were done less than 2 hours after the last bolt was glued-in. Mind you, it was quite a warm day ....
You've already found Jim Titt's excellent website. His advice is second to none.
That's brilliant. Thanks so much for taking time to reply.
I guess it'll have to be glue-ins. Ive no excuse except laziness for using expansions
The twisted leg design seem like a great option. It's good that they're slightly cheaper too which offsets the cost of the glue.
One quick question: do you know if they require a bevel drilled to sit the eye of the bolt into or do you just drill the 12mm hole and fit the eye flush to the rock?
Though climbing the route 1.5 hours later sounds terrifying! I think the resin I last used we gave 24hrs!
> That's brilliant. Thanks so much for taking time to reply.
You're very welcome.
> I guess it'll have to be glue-ins. Ive no excuse except laziness for using expansions
I think glue-ins are almost as quick in practice, but obviously much messier.
> The twisted leg design seem like a great option. It's good that they're slightly cheaper too which offsets the cost of the glue.
Yes, they're really great bolts; screwing them in gently makes them easy to place and also means greater surface contact between the metal and the resin. (Forgot to mention that the hole needs to be about 2/3rds full of resin before the bolt's screwed in. Apologies if you knew this already!)
> One quick question: do you know if they require a bevel drilled to sit the eye of the bolt into or do you just drill the 12mm hole and fit the eye flush to the rock?
We do the latter; seems to work just fine. Occasionally you need to give a bolt a very gentle tap into the hole once it's full of resin, in order to get it seated properly. Best practice is not to use a metal hammer to do this, but rather use a leather faced hammer - or perhaps a rubber one.
> Though climbing the route 1.5 hours later sounds terrifying! I think the resin I last used we gave 24hrs!
Patience is a virtue I agree, and I'd have given it 24h too, but (unfortunately) Fischer glue specs state the following:
Processing and curing time:
Cartridge temperature (resin) / Gelling time / Setting time
.........5°C................................. 13 min..........90 min.
........10°C.................................. 9 min..........45 min.
........20°C.................................. 5 min..........30 min.
........30°C.................................. 4 min..........25 min.
Fateful words, recently spoken, were: "Right, let's get on with it, it's had more than three times as long as it needs."
The fall, a couple of minutes later. did cause a bit of, er, 'momentary excitement' though. The air was *very* blue ...
> (In reply to Dave Williams)
>
> Anyone had any experience with resin capsules, ignoring the price are they any good.
>
> Also tidying chem is what you use the manual for, that and making a plug if you hit a cavity in masonry
Capsules are good in some ways and not in others. The main problem is getting a bolt/hole combination that has the right amount of glue. We don´t use the twisted leg design bolts for these as twisting the bolt in the hole is difficult, you need a solid-shaft bolt really and it should have an angled end. We make these different lengths to normal to suit the capsule volume. They generally give the strongest results especially in sandstone. Make sure they are vinylester hammer-in capsules like the Fischer FFB RM though there are many cheaper brands out there.
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