UKC

Hello,

I have some regular climbing wall resin holds and would like to drill some holes in these so I can use them for some v. easy dry tooling in my garage.

Can anyone advise what type drill bit I'd need to do this? I'm assuming a masonry bit will work? also roughly what size of bit? Am I likely to need a hammer drill or will a regular drill be okay? and also if there's any tricks to drilling a hole without shattering the hold etc?

Many thanks,
Fiona

In reply to Fiona Reid:

Probably just need to experiment a bit and expect to have the odd breakage, no stein pulls?

Might be cheaper to make some timber holds for dry tooling.

In reply to Fiona Reid:

Hi Fiona,

Just a thought but could you make holds out of wood to avoid drilling your nice holds?

I'd be tempted to cut a length of 2 by 4 into hold sizes then drill two holes into each of these, one for the bolt and one for the ice tool (or screw them on instead of bolting) . You could also stab crampons in them then if you wanted to.

I'll have a ponder about drilling proper climbing holds.

In reply to Rick Graham:


No steins initially. I just want to have some holes I can use to practice moving up and down on to begin with. I've a boiler / washing machine behind me I'd like to avoid landing on. Using fig fours is safe enough but if I use ice axes I need to be fairly happy I'm not going to go flying / have the tool flying.


Good idea, although the advantage of the resin ones is I'll be able to move them around easily as they already have bolt holes etc and my wall is all t-nutted. I think with wooden holds I'd likely need to screw them on.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:


I've got some redundant ones that I don't mind damaging hence the question but it's sounding like using wood is going to be a lot easier.


Thank you

In reply to Fiona Reid:

My advice would be don't, the holes will be slick and prone to chipping. Add some hardwood blocks with edges and drilled pockets. edit: Wooden holds can be bolted on but screwing them on is trivial anyway.

Unless your holds use something nasty like sand as a filler (seems unlikely but can't say for sure) then a standard HSS twist drill sold for drilling metal or mixed materials will do. You'll want big ish holes and most drill chucks only go out to 13mm, if you want to drill bigger than that then you need to look for 'blacksmiths drills', these have a reduced shank to fit a normal drill chuck. No hammer action. A smaller pilot hole, say 6mm will really help. The drilling will leave sharp, possibly chipped edges you'll want to grind down.

jk

In reply to Fiona Reid:

Hi Fiona,

I'm using 1x3inch pine batons screwed to the garage wall and they work really well. Axes and crampons stick to them and feels similar to the real thing (obviously no swing practice though). Masonry bit for the brick plus your raw plug, small pilot hole for the wood (don't want it splitting) then just screw them on. There's a bit of measuring to do but it's all done in a hour. It basically looks like a ladder.

In reply to Fraser:

Wow! they look brilliant

In reply to Fiona Reid:

You might be able to superglue cut to length bits of metal tubing into your newly drilled holes to keep them from chipping and allowing those to be steinpulled.

In reply to Fiona Reid:

Many thanks everyone for your suggestions.

It looks like wooden holds are the best option and will certainly be a lot easier to work with than the resin ones. I'll have play as soon as I have a spare evening / weekend.

In reply to Fiona Reid:

Sounds like a plan.

I've thought about drilling resin holds, most of the ideas have already been mentioned but here's a couple of others...

Use the drill on a low torque setting.

Put the hold in a vice (gently) whilst you drill it. The pressure helps avoid splitting.


All in all I think you're probably on the right track with wooden holds.

Good luck

In reply to Fiona Reid:

I used to set dry tooling problems at the GCC when there still was a DT area. I did not drill big holes (no more then 2 #8 side by side). But Jkarran is right they will chip. Also do not drill with hammer drill on or you will split holds. It is harder but less damaging to drill them on normal setting.
Wood blocks would be better with a counter sunk set-up (see Fraser's holds...which look great, I agree) for those precise hole placements. Edges and horns/hooks can be on normal holds but expect a big % a breakage, so only use holds you don't mind destroying. Make this clear to visitors too!

In reply to Fiona Reid:

On a related note, just came across this from Atomik Climbing Holds -

youtube.com/watch?v=yZ0yMAwPJDk&

Probably more suited to a public wall than a home setup, but it's an interesting concept.

In reply to Fiona Reid:

Wooden blocks screwed to the wall work well, you don't need to drill them, picks soon create sweet spots. 3x2 soft wood studding timber, cheap and readily available.

I have use a rats tail file to create small nicks at the back of sloping resin holds to take a pick.

Another option worth considering is maillons or old crabs on bolt hangers bolted to t nuts, good for huge moves.

Whatever you choose, shift or pad out that washing machine. The falls in dry tooling come out of nowhere when a pick shifts, hold breaks or similar, you will not be able to rely on your cat like reflexes or spider sense to avoid braining yourself

In reply to 3leggeddog:
Thanks for all your suggestions.


Don't worry it already has a mat over it

In reply to Fiona Reid:

Having made wooden holds for normal climbing I can offer the following advice - softwood splinters badly and wears out quickly, so if you're using building site offcuts then go for 4x2 or even bigger or you'll forever be replacing them. If you screw them on and are forever replacing them then you'll soon wear out the screw holes or end up with a wall like a colander, so it's probably best to bolt them on.
Because big holds are more prone to spinning consider using lengths of wood and fitting them with two or more bolts.
Use caphead bolts rather than countersunk ones as countersunk bolts tend to split wooden holds.
Teak is great for normal climbing holds and dead garden furniture is a good source. You could also try offcuts of solid wood kitchen worktop, those would be good for making large 'plate'-type holds full of pockets.

In reply to Fiona Reid:
I've drilled resin holds without an issue. They work fine and that's getting used a good couple of days a week minimum. Also as said before we've got 6" lengths of 2x1 and some 3x2 with holes drilled in just to make bomber holds for big circuits. Also added door hinges with the pins knocked out to make another type of placement which works really well