You can flatten the rock using an angle grinder disk for cutting concrete/floor tiles, holes cut with a dry gres rubi diamond angle grinder bit. Tgis is what i used and i was able to cut through black stone wich is verry hard. Round diamont bit for drill is also pretty good and cuts fast since it has thinner wall so it has to remove less material. Flattened with car putty and sanded on a flat sheet of sand paper since the rock was already pretty flat from the angle grinder. Great video
Byo Ninga Thanks! I have a video that I have been working on a video the last month or so and haven't published it yet so that I could feel it was complete enough. Should be up in a week or two.
Thanks for the vid. Your ideas were really helpful. I was able to dry drill through a couple of sandstone pieces with a standard high speed steel bit and hammer drill. I then needed to sharpen the bit.It was very time consuming though. For the sandstone holds I used, they were flat enough on the backs that I was able to finish flattening them by just rubbing them on the concrete floor of my garage. They are holds that would not get a lot of torque on them. I then burnt through a bunch of masonry drill bits dry-drilling another 1.5 holds in hammer mode, very time consuming. Then I followed your lead and bought some diamond hole saw bits - bought on amazon for dirt cheap, takes a few weeks to ship from china. I drilled with these, with the bit/rock underwater, in rotary mode (not hammer) and they drilled like butter. Getting things set up to drill a 90 degree angle and the water level right and the work area safe all takes a while, but the actual drilling time was very quick - maybe 5-10 minutes per hole. I've drilled about 10 holes and though I can tell the 3/8bit is getting worn when I look at it, it still drills remarkably fast, even through granite. I am currently waiting for my bondo to dry. Thanks for all the tips!
my cousin is into climbing and I think I'm going to make him one of these. I do tile work so I have tools, and thinking of just using wetsaw to flatten the backs. time to hit the train tracks and find some rocks. this is cool, thanks for the video.
+Ryan Bond cuts like butter with a smooth continuous diamond blade, and then use ceramic diamond bit to drill through for the hardware bolts. it was a fun project, that turned out good. have fun.
Can you update how well the quartzite holds held up? I was considering a combination of granite and quartzite holds for a wall my friend and I are making. Also a few tips from my experience as a lapidary (a person that cuts stone, normally for jewelry or decoration) 1. Use a cheap drill press to cut the holes with a diamond hole saw bit. I decreases the time it takes to cut through, and, with some ingenuity, you can either weight the drill press handle, or make a mechanism that will slowly press down and then release. 2) When using Bondo, if you use a sharp razorblade to trim the edges as soon as the Bondo sets, it cuts through smoothly like butter. Cheers, and happy climbing!
great detailed yet crisp video. Did you try drilling a bigger diameter bore on the climber side of the hold for the the Allen key bolt head to sit ? have you given it a thought?
I just use a masonry bit with a rotary hammer drill. As long as you take your time and use light pressure you can drill through holds this thick in about five minutes each. I suppose there is more risk of cracking a hold but if you've got plenty of rocks it's only five minutes wasted. I'd do the bondo after drilling to avoid further wasted time. You can clean the hole up later with a dremel and some grinding bits if you have them or just sand paper if you don't.
Nice! The hole-saw bit looked really nice! How many holes can you drill with each hole saw bit? (What's the cost per hole) ... For the finishing of the bondo a dremel tool with a sandpaper flap-wheel works great :)
+Three Ball Climbing Thanks! You guys thinking of getting into the natural rock climbing hold segment? I haven't had a chance to drill more holds since the video (moved states and had a baby), but if I were to guess, I'm sure you could get atleast 10 holds which would put you at about $0.80 per hold for the bit, with probably $0.25 worth of bondo on the back.
Youll have the best luck with the diamond tipped drill bits for stone. I think those masonry bits with carbide are more for concrete. Quartzite will eat that for breakfast. Quartzite is especially hard to cut even with diamonds and will wear the diamonds down quickly. If you notice the bit isnt cutting as well, and the tip feels smooth with few protruding diamonds, you can expose the diamonds again by running the bit into concrete or sandstone, which will sharpen it up again for you. I run my diamond blade through a sandstone block after every cut I do in porcelain or quartzite to keep the diamonds fresh. Pressure into the stone wont hurt the bit all that much, and a decent amount of pressure will speed things up for you. A drill press would make this real easy, however, keep checking the tip for sharpness. If the quartzite wears away the diamonds and you keep the pressure on, temperature will increase and your compound will weaken, severely shortening the bits lifespan. As for the bondo, easiest way ive found to clear the excess is to cut it off with a razor blade when its about halfway cured and still cuts easy without dropping out again. You can also use a diamond cup wheel to flatten the rear, or 50 grit sandpaper on a sander polisher. Always use water when cutting, drilling, and grinding stone for dust suppression. You don't want to be breathing in stone dust, it's not at all good for you.
hey! i'm in portugal and i don't really know if we have "bondo" here? could you explain kinda what it is, to see if i could find something like it here? btw great video! thanks!
It's an illusion caused by the framerate of the video. If you're interested in that sort of thing, checkout what you can do when filming vibrating water th-cam.com/video/jTAxlgOGHos/w-d-xo.html
You can take your rock to the local water jet cutting company and get them to cut it for you. This is just a suggestion i have not tried this. Best of luck
Beautiful, very helpful, thank you!
You can flatten the rock using an angle grinder disk for cutting concrete/floor tiles, holes cut with a dry gres rubi diamond angle grinder bit. Tgis is what i used and i was able to cut through black stone wich is verry hard. Round diamont bit for drill is also pretty good and cuts fast since it has thinner wall so it has to remove less material. Flattened with car putty and sanded on a flat sheet of sand paper since the rock was already pretty flat from the angle grinder. Great video
I love the amount of effort put into your videos. Please continue making videos and please keep making them to this standard.
Byo Ninga Thanks! I have a video that I have been working on a video the last month or so and haven't published it yet so that I could feel it was complete enough. Should be up in a week or two.
thanks for sharing all of the details of your process, even what didn't end up working! very useful
Very good Video! just what i was looking for.
Super cool. Thanks!
Just what I was looking for, cheers man
Thanks for the vid. Your ideas were really helpful. I was able to dry drill through a couple of sandstone pieces with a standard high speed steel bit and hammer drill. I then needed to sharpen the bit.It was very time consuming though. For the sandstone holds I used, they were flat enough on the backs that I was able to finish flattening them by just rubbing them on the concrete floor of my garage. They are holds that would not get a lot of torque on them. I then burnt through a bunch of masonry drill bits dry-drilling another 1.5 holds in hammer mode, very time consuming. Then I followed your lead and bought some diamond hole saw bits - bought on amazon for dirt cheap, takes a few weeks to ship from china. I drilled with these, with the bit/rock underwater, in rotary mode (not hammer) and they drilled like butter. Getting things set up to drill a 90 degree angle and the water level right and the work area safe all takes a while, but the actual drilling time was very quick - maybe 5-10 minutes per hole. I've drilled about 10 holes and though I can tell the 3/8bit is getting worn when I look at it, it still drills remarkably fast, even through granite. I am currently waiting for my bondo to dry. Thanks for all the tips!
Thanks for the comment! Yeah it takes a bit to get it all setup, but the end product is cool and unique
You should make another wider hole so the bolt can be counter sunk below the top of the rock
great vid
Nice video 👍
my cousin is into climbing and I think I'm going to make him one of these. I do tile work so I have tools, and thinking of just using wetsaw to flatten the backs. time to hit the train tracks and find some rocks. this is cool, thanks for the video.
did your wet saw work? I was just thinking the same thing when I watched this video.
+Ryan Bond cuts like butter with a smooth continuous diamond blade, and then use ceramic diamond bit to drill through for the hardware bolts. it was a fun project, that turned out good. have fun.
+Jeremiah Johnson thanks! I got all of the tools, hoping it goes well!
Can you update how well the quartzite holds held up? I was considering a combination of granite and quartzite holds for a wall my friend and I are making. Also a few tips from my experience as a lapidary (a person that cuts stone, normally for jewelry or decoration) 1. Use a cheap drill press to cut the holes with a diamond hole saw bit. I decreases the time it takes to cut through, and, with some ingenuity, you can either weight the drill press handle, or make a mechanism that will slowly press down and then release. 2) When using Bondo, if you use a sharp razorblade to trim the edges as soon as the Bondo sets, it cuts through smoothly like butter. Cheers, and happy climbing!
Thanks for the tips! The white hold has crumbled a little bit, but otherwise the holds have held up.
great detailed yet crisp video. Did you try drilling a bigger diameter bore on the climber side of the hold for the the Allen key bolt head to sit ? have you given it a thought?
Great video! Thanks for posting.
What size drill bit do you use?
+Michael Wilkens The climbing bolts I used are 3/8", so I used a 7/16" drill bit, and a 3/8" hole saw.
Thanks for vid
You could also use a rubbing brick to easily smooth the rock out.
I just use a masonry bit with a rotary hammer drill. As long as you take your time and use light pressure you can drill through holds this thick in about five minutes each. I suppose there is more risk of cracking a hold but if you've got plenty of rocks it's only five minutes wasted. I'd do the bondo after drilling to avoid further wasted time. You can clean the hole up later with a dremel and some grinding bits if you have them or just sand paper if you don't.
Could you tell me what the size of the diamond grit drill bit is? Also thank you for this awesome vid.
+Dante Van Bach 3/8" (9.5 mm)
Nice! The hole-saw bit looked really nice! How many holes can you drill with each hole saw bit? (What's the cost per hole) ... For the finishing of the bondo a dremel tool with a sandpaper flap-wheel works great :)
+Three Ball Climbing Thanks! You guys thinking of getting into the natural rock climbing hold segment? I haven't had a chance to drill more holds since the video (moved states and had a baby), but if I were to guess, I'm sure you could get atleast 10 holds which would put you at about $0.80 per hold for the bit, with probably $0.25 worth of bondo on the back.
Youll have the best luck with the diamond tipped drill bits for stone. I think those masonry bits with carbide are more for concrete. Quartzite will eat that for breakfast.
Quartzite is especially hard to cut even with diamonds and will wear the diamonds down quickly. If you notice the bit isnt cutting as well, and the tip feels smooth with few protruding diamonds, you can expose the diamonds again by running the bit into concrete or sandstone, which will sharpen it up again for you. I run my diamond blade through a sandstone block after every cut I do in porcelain or quartzite to keep the diamonds fresh.
Pressure into the stone wont hurt the bit all that much, and a decent amount of pressure will speed things up for you. A drill press would make this real easy, however, keep checking the tip for sharpness. If the quartzite wears away the diamonds and you keep the pressure on, temperature will increase and your compound will weaken, severely shortening the bits lifespan.
As for the bondo, easiest way ive found to clear the excess is to cut it off with a razor blade when its about halfway cured and still cuts easy without dropping out again.
You can also use a diamond cup wheel to flatten the rear, or 50 grit sandpaper on a sander polisher. Always use water when cutting, drilling, and grinding stone for dust suppression. You don't want to be breathing in stone dust, it's not at all good for you.
hey! i'm in portugal and i don't really know if we have "bondo" here? could you explain kinda what it is, to see if i could find something like it here? btw great video! thanks!
It s like car putty for filling up holes, imperfections
Cut the rock in half using a diamond angle grinding disk, then drill using a diamond bit
Drill the holes first, then cut in half. You avoid blowing out the back of the hold that way.
dude i think you drilled backward
I think it was going backwards. Does it matter to the bit?
It's an illusion caused by the framerate of the video. If you're interested in that sort of thing, checkout what you can do when filming vibrating water th-cam.com/video/jTAxlgOGHos/w-d-xo.html
2:47 drilling clockwise - video illusion m8
Where are you purchasing your hardware from?
+Cory Campbell I got the drill bits from Home Depot, but they did not have the screws I wanted, so I got those from Lowe's.
You can take your rock to the local water jet cutting company and get them to cut it for you. This is just a suggestion i have not tried this. Best of luck
Just made my own using this video and granite pieces. Got my hole saw from Amazon - www.amazon.com/dp/B01HIWPUTI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_WLS-xb0VDWR8F
you can also make wood grips. I uploaded a video
What is the (bondo?) material you use to level it up? (and please do not climb with rings!!!
)
It s like car putty to fill up holes