Placing new 5 piece in old bolt holes

Sounds like I stand corrected,  I must have misinterpreted when Jim said he makes the US version for a half inch hole. The bolt stretches during twisting by a couple fractions of a mm, and SDS Bits drill slightly larger than their stated size so it's not surprising that they slide in easy. A couple of the guys making twists in the US use 1/4" stock so it naturally has a close fit in a 1/2" hole without leaving a gap between the legs on the part near the head.  

Jim Daywrote:

Are you sure the twist bolts for American consumption (from team tough) are 1/4"?  I install them with 12mm drill bits all the time and can almost always twist them in by hand, or maybe a few taps with a nearby rock.  Admittedly this is in soft limestone.

Edit to add: i went ahead and measured the wave bolts and twist bolts I have, it looks like wave bolts are 1/4" and twists are 6mm:

Fyi crossovers also measuring 1/4"

Gregger Manwrote:

1/2" plated sleeve to 1/2" SS sleeve is fine since the hole isn't damaged by the removal. Spinning a 1/2" wedge can significantly wallow out the hole which might be bad. Sleeves have a pretty big expansion range, so it might work if it gets up to torque. If the wallowing increases all the way to the lip of the hole, that would be sub-optimal...

What is your experience with placing 1/2” sleeve with another 1/2” in sandstone? Placed a couple today and got them to torque specs and they seem bomber

Many in Fountain formation sandstone, but not Wingate or softer stuff. Zero issues.  -Just remembered a couple of times where I had the opposite problem. I checked the hole depth and hammered in a new bolt and the hole was almost too tight, not too loose.

If you end up enlarging the hole significantly during removal, you can drill the hole a little deeper and put in the longer 1/2" SS power bolts, since 1/2" SS power bolts come in 4 3/4" length, and most 1/2" zinc-plated power bolts are ~3". 

If you’re looking to replace old bolts in Arkansas, shoot the Arkansas climbers coalition (ARCC) a message and they may be able to provide you with hardware for that. They host rebolt days 2x/year and it would be a great time for you to meet up with others that have done replacement on that stone.

their standard use is replacing anchors with 1/2x4.75” powerbolts (so they can be used immediately) and replace the lead/pro bolts with glue-ins since those are less likely to need maintenance. Both have been done to replace old 1/2x3.5” powerbolts without issue out there, but stone hardness can vary across the states different regions.