Bolt Supplier

I've been struggling to find 1/2" stainless steel Rawl/Powers 5-piece bolts in a length between 3-4 inches. Anybody have a lead? Are they difficult to find because they're popular or because they don't exist anymore?

Or...It seems like the Climb Tech Legacy bolt might be a suitable alternative. Am I missing any other (slightly cheaper) options in this size range? These are mostly for hand drilling anchors on new routes in medium to high grade Wingate.

Thanks in advance for any advice/help.

fastenmsc.com/p-99691-power…

globalindustrial.com/p/fast…?

Kirk Miller wrote: fastenmsc.com/p-99691-power… globalindustrial.com/p/fast…?

Thanks. Been there. Several suppliers have the 4 3/4" length, which is a little longer than I'd prefer for most hand drilling. They make a 3 3/4" length in plated steel, but I haven't seen it available in stainless anywhere currently.

And, the 2 3/4" length is easy to find, but this seems a bit short for most/all desert sandstone. Looking for just the right temperature porridge.

For that stone you'll find that something like the triplex (and probably the legacy - someone else will have to verify though) will work better. The 5 pieces can be finicky to tighten, or stay tight because the cone on the end doesn't always seat well in soft rock. You can see this with some of the "wobbly" anchor bolts in the area.

nbrown wrote:For that stone you'll find that something like the triplex (and probably the legacy - someone else will have to verify though) will work better. The 5 pieces can be finicky to tighten, or stay tight because the cone on the end doesn't always seat well in soft rock. You can see this with some of the "wobbly" anchor bolts in the area.

Thanks. Just wish the triplex didn't require expensive metric bits.

And, it doesn't look like the 75mm length is available anywhere currently either.

climbtechgear.com/bolts/

It's hard to find the SS in the 1/2"x3 3/4" for sure. Though depending on the wingate Plated in the 3 3/4 or 4 3/4 are find and the power+ are pretty sweet especially if you're hand drilling they're the best.

However, unless you're in wilderness, if you're willing the drop the $$$ on SS hardware you should definitely get a power drill even if it's just an 18V cheaper hammer drill. You'll get way better holes, it's fast and light and basically infinitely better than hand drilling and then you can do longer bolts without any real issue!

If you have any questions on bolting in wingate I'd be happy to answer/help in anyway that I can as I've placed a few hundred bolts in that stuff.

10mm and 12mm I've found to be interchangeable with 3/8" and 1/2" if you're concerned about bits.

It is worth noting that the Power Bolt + in the 3/8" size uses a smaller bolt (1/4" vs 5/16") than the Power Bolt. The steel is an upgrade from Grade 5 to Grade 8 but the internal bolt is smaller.

In the 1/2" size, the bolt is same for the Power Bolt and Power Bolt + at 3/8"

Sam Feuerborn wrote: 10mm and 12mm I've found to be interchangeable with 3/8" and 1/2" if you're concerned about bits.

NO, this is not the case. 1/2" is 13mm, so 1/2" bits can never be used for 12mm bolts. 10mm bits are slightly larger than 3/8", so those are close enough for some bolts - 5-piece (Power-Bolts) are actually rated for either 3/8" or 10mm (that's even stamped on the expansion sleeve). You wouldn't want to use 10mm drill bits with most 3/8" stud/wedge bolts, and even with 5-piece I've had issues getting them to tighten in 10mm hand drilled holes (in granite).

As far as 1/2" bolts, the only lengths they make in stainless are 2.75" and 4.75". Many years ago they made at least one intermediate size in stainless, but that's 20 years back now. The 3.75" (nice size for lots of climbing applications) are only made in carbon steel.

Thanks for the replies so far. Partly it was the Indian Creek anchors thread that got my hopes up, where I think Luke mentions using 1/2 x 3 inch replacement bolts. I guess it's just rounding.

I stand corrected. Thanks Greg!

I think the vast majority of the ASCA bolts going in to Creek anchors are the 4.75" SS 5 Pieces.

Greg Barnes wrote: NO, this is not the case. 1/2" is 13mm, so 1/2" bits can never be used for 12mm bolts. 10mm bits are slightly larger than 3/8", so those are close enough for some bolts - 5-piece (Power-Bolts) are actually rated for either 3/8" or 10mm (that's even stamped on the expansion sleeve). You wouldn't want to use 10mm drill bits with most 3/8" stud/wedge bolts, and even with 5-piece I've had issues getting them to tighten in 10mm hand drilled holes (in granite). As far as 1/2" bolts, the only lengths they make in stainless are 2.75" and 4.75". Many years ago they made at least one intermediate size in stainless, but that's 20 years back now. The 3.75" (nice size for lots of climbing applications) are only made in carbon steel.

Absolutely. I have pull tested 12mm bolts in 1/2" holes and the pullout strength is critically low. I recall about 3-6kN for a properly-torqued 12mm Triplex in a 1/2" hole (and this was the long version of the bolt, not the short one). It only took about 500 lbs to start drawing the bolt from the hole too (the test was in tension, not shear)

OP: If you are using glue ins, sure you can use metric bits if you want as long as the hole is at least 1mm larger than the shaft diameter.

As far as the ~3" SS Power Bolts go, Powers indicates that they dont exist. Powers' tech manual shows they are only made in 2 3/4" and 4 3/4".

powers.com/pdfs/mechanical/…