ivan wrote:

'Snow nails' used to be the standard way of fixing cable into mortar,
these
consisted of a largish wedge shaped nail, with a strip of lead which
could
be wound around the cable. I've still managed to hang on to a few for
special jobs, but for some reason they now appear to be no longer
available.


BT engineers seem to use something similar (or maybe the same?). After
getting bored of seeing normal masonry pin+plastic clips fall out of my
wall the last one fetched what I thought was a device made wholly of
lead.

After drilling a hole these were tapped into place with a single sharp
tap. I think they were a lead 'plug' with a clip shaped head. I guess
the hammering deformed the plug to grip the hole.
I'd be handy to know their name to be able to get a few.

IanC