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[JRAGS]

    I've been working on this luminary for a while now and the drilling of a piece of petrified wood is a lot harder than it looks. Tried under water, above water with spray, a diamond bit with oil and with just a masonry bit dry ( the best way ). The thickness is 2 3/4 inches thick and 1/4 in. in diameter. So far, four bits shot. but I got it 2 inches deep and decided to just fill the hole with epoxy.  stuck a good size screw into the hole and DONE.... For those reading, this job is for professionals of which I am not. Please don't try this at home.  So here it sits waiting for the stones to be completed. That's for another story. But the reason I am writing this is. What do you do with Petrified wood if it's not to be worked on. it's only pretty when polished or blended in with some thing else. The costs are unusually higher than I would of thought. So I guess I am going to be passing on working with this from now on unless you folks have a better mouse trap... I love the thought of using it but I cant at the present time make it affordable for folks to purchase.

[Itsandbits]

is the driftwood the legs or the top? if the driftwood is the base there is no reason to polish it, roughen it more where the wood attaches and make a flat spot on the wood that you can epoxy right to the rough spot on the rock. My experience with the epoxy I have is that this will be very solid if you have a sq. in. or so contact area.

[JRAGS]

The drift wood is the frame for the candle luminary. I was holding it upside down. The petrified wood is the base. The carnelian stones will be soldered between the roots . It's holding fine. I am so happy.  I threw a carnelian nodule in the center of this photo so you have a sort of an idea of what I'm trying to do.

[Itsandbits]

Looks good; if you wanted to save the drilling time, a good epoxy done the way I suggested above would hold securely I am sure. Maybe give it a test and see whether it is workable for you if you think it'll save some casts in labour and materials; drill bits etc.

[Bentiron]

Is that a hammer drill? I found that the use of a hammer drill works better when drilling stone than just a constant speed drill but it is just difficult no matter what stone is hard.

[JRAGS]

Yep. tried Epoxy directly to the pet wood surface. Holds for a while then just snaps off. The surface was polished.  If I would of left it rough maybe would of worked better. And it's just my cordless plain drill. I don't own a hammer drill. Good advise though. I gotta come up with a better plan if I'm going to use pet wood as a base for my projects.  Thanks for the advise.

[MrsWTownsend]

Maybe try starting with a smaller drill size and pre-drill the hole, then go to the larger size and finish it out.  This is done in metal fabrication.

[JRAGS]

Thanks, but did that too.... I did find out I can take my bases to the  memorial stone place and for a fee, they would pop a hole in them after they test one first. So on the 24th of October, I'm headed to Saddle Mountain for stock. So we shall see. But again, thanks for all the help.

[JRAGS]

Here's what it's supposed to look like.

[Itsandbits]

Beauty
I did a test on a couple of slabs of serpentine and used my 2 part clear epoxy to glue the cut edge of a 1/4in. slab to the face of the other; very smooth saw cuts, and the contact area is 1/4in. x 1 1/2in. Even with the leverage of the two slabs at right angles like that, I can't break them apart by hand. The epoxy I have is super thick so I thin it with acetone first and heat the stones to speed the reaction.   

[JRAGS]

  Finally got a better photo

[PhilNM]

I can't believe no one told you you are using the wrong type drill bit yet. Those are drill bits for wood  or masonry in the photo. You need to buy some diamond tipped drill bits, then drill slowly with plenty of water lubrication to keep the bit cool. Kinda like a woodpecker... in for 2 seconds, out for 2 seconds, flushing with cool water all the time...

[JRAGS]

   That drill bit was just a pose for the photo. I knew what bit was in the drill. That's the bit I used to make the hole in the wood.