I had a rod that was threaded on one half and smooth on the other half. I needed the smooth half to be installed into brick.
method 1: chemical anchor
The normal way to do this (I think) would be to cut some grooves into the rod using an angle grinder, drill a hole that has a diameter that’s ~2mm bigger than the rod, and use chemical anchoring. But that stuff is pricey and only lasts ~1 year on the shelf. Thus cost ineffective for 1 use.
method 2: ad hoc chemical anchor substitute
Similar to the above, I wonder if general 2-component household epoxy would work as a substitute in the above method since people are more likely to have that on-hand. I suspect the issue is that it’s too thin and gravity would do its thing and the topmost area would not get filled with epoxy. Hence why I did not attempt it.
method 3: (What I did)
The rod measured at ø=8.8mm. I had no 9mm drill bit for masonry (and that would be too loose anyway). So I used a nominal 8mm masonry bit on a hammer drill. I’m not sure what the actual diameter of that hole was, but it was too tight to push in the 8.8mm rod in by hand. So I tapped it in, dry (no oil or glues). It worked! It feels really solid. Feels like I got away with murder.
Questions
(method 2) Is there something could be mixed with common 2-component household epoxy to thicken it so it acts more like chemical anchor epoxy?
(method 3) Did I take bad risk with fracturing the brick? Is there perhaps a guide somewhere that safely maps brick hole diameter to metal rod diameter? Or is this something is never done and should never be done?
Epoxy seems too thin to me and would just leak everywhere. I would have tried some expanding foam. It's pretty cheap, you could put the rod in while it's still setting, and the extra that flows out of the hole could be cut off easily to be flush with the wall. In my experience it's thick enough that it wouldn't all flow out before setting too