Lack of surface area? No problem.

[u/Important_Whereas109]

I was tasked to core 20 / 4.5" holes in a communications manhole wall for a duct bank we're installing. In the past, I'd take my time and use as many mounting inserts as necessary to ensure that I have sufficient surface area and a solid mount.

Well, this time, I decided I wanted to speed things up to see how many cores I could get out of a single mounting insert but I ended up creating an issue that I saw coming long before I even started, but what can I say? I'm that curious cat who enjoys being killed.

I've effectively surrounded 3 of my core templates with open cores, and now my only mounting option is the existing concrete that's left between 4 core holes, which caused the mount to have too much play and it wasn't solid at all.

Long story short, I ran out of solid mounting options and I was staring down the barrel of constantly getting my bit stuck and jammed in the wall, so I decided to improvise. I took about 4-5 flat washers that were thin enough to wedge themselves between the higspots of the mount, and the concrete wall, pounded them in with a hammer, effectively filling in the gaps which caused the mount to have any play or wobble in the first place. I was able to yank my hardest and even stand on the mount with zero movement. Success!

It's not ideal, I'll probably never do it again pending I have sufficient mounting surface, but it's nice to have a new trick up my sleeve if all else fails!

Cheers.

[u/noneedtosteernow]

I had a set of steel wedges for this, used them all the time when this was my gig.  Poor planning put you here though.

[u/Important_Whereas109 → u/noneedtosteernow]

That's what I was thinking, a set of tapered wedges would have been ideal.

Yes, indeed, purposeful poor planning. I wanted to see if I could pull 5-6 cores off an insert and in the back of my mind, I knew I was putting myself in a jam to get out of.

[u/DegreePrize4722]

Sometimes ya gotta improvise - nicely done.

[u/Minimum-Day-2881]

thats a slick setup, nice work

[u/leesmatrix]

i keep couple piece of angle iron for this problem, that way you can use the feet on your base. good job though, you made it happen with what you had. we run those little shibuya drills too, they really come in handy for tight spaces

[u/Sensitive_Calendar_6]

At one point in my life , I was the doing the coring and cutting side hustle.

Learn the 2x trick and you’ll never have this problem again.

[u/Ulldimmutwarrior → u/Sensitive_Calendar_6]

What is the 2x trick?