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Rock Art => Carvings and Sculptures => Topic started by: wampidy on March 22, 2015, 07:41:56 PM

Title: Fail, damn.
Post by: wampidy on March 22, 2015, 07:41:56 PM: I was drilling a piece of marble counter top making it into an e-cig holder. All the big holes were drilled so I had spent a lot of time on it then the first small hole broke out when I hit bottom. It broke in such a way that I do not think I can hide it plus three of the holes are leaning pretty bad.
(http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h375/wampidy/posted/P5210007.jpg) (http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/wampidy/media/posted/P5210007.jpg.html)

I went from a bucket with a brick in it to a dog dish with a slab in the bottom. I used my tile nippers to snip off the high area of the slab that is left at the end of the cut but missed some and it tipped the marble on some of the holes. When I am drilling the first couple of holes make the water so milky I can not see very good so I got burned on this one.

Old way took too much water and was hard to clean up.
(http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h375/wampidy/posted/P5210012.jpg) (http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/wampidy/media/posted/P5210012.jpg.html)

New way that taught me a lesson about being in a hurry.
(http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h375/wampidy/posted/P5210013.jpg) (http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/wampidy/media/posted/P5210013.jpg.html)

Luckily I have more marble but these are smaller so I won't ruin so much work if it breaks. Another lesson about putting the holes as close together in marble as I do in jade.
(http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h375/wampidy/posted/P5210011.jpg) (http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/wampidy/media/posted/P5210011.jpg.html)
Jim
Title: Re: Fail, damn.
Post by: Enchantra on March 22, 2015, 09:07:14 PM: Marble can be a pain in the buttocks to cut because it's tendency to be brittle in places. Folks can do some gorgeous fine detail work in marble but it takes a bit of patience. At least it wasn't a hugely expensive stone that broke!
Title: Re: Fail, damn.
Post by: lithicbeads on March 23, 2015, 05:27:04 AM: All marbles are not the same. Italian carving marbles have very little color layering , or preferably none, and are stronger because of this lack of included oxides and serpentines. Normal marbles can definitely be a challenge but at least they are soft and relatively fast to drill.
Title: Re: Fail, damn.
Post by: ToTheSummit on March 23, 2015, 09:24:53 AM: Bummer. Always a sickening feeling the moment something fails, especially if you have already put a lot of time into it.