Introducing myself & question

["GLENN E FREIDLINE" <gfreidline@zzzzzzz>]

I am Glenn Freidline from Aztec, New Mexico - the Four Corners region of the Rocky Mountains, USA.  I "lost my marbles" over marble and granite about 5 years ago and was first attracted to counter tops and other slab work.  I have tried to fill my house with stone.  In my home I have a limestone dining table, granite kitchen counters, a granite-top computer desk, granite windowsills, marble thresholds, a marble & granite fireplace and marble & granite vanity tops.  The project I just completed is my marble & granite shower.  I bought a 5" (12.7 cm) slab of Colorado Yule marble, carved the shower pan from it and clad the walls with slabs of Paradiso Dark granite.  It is awesome to shower in there!  However, one time I saw a classified ad for 100 slabs of green marble for real cheap.  I was trying to figure out how to rent a truck to go to the East Coast to pick them up.  My wife said "what will you do with all of that marble"?  I told her that with 50 slabs I could cover the
outside of the house and with the other 50, I could do the inside.  She said "No you're not!"  I guess she didn't want our house to be a tourist attraction.

I have completed eight granite kitchens in my spare time for friends and family and am working on the ninth.  I have invested profits from this work into stone working tools and equipment.  I have had a growing need to try direct stone sculpture however, and since I have just retired I will soon have time to start chiseling.  I attended the Southwest Stoneworks workshop in 2002 and I have my sights set on attending Marble/marble next year.

Now for my question:  To make a fountain for my living room, how can I drill a hole through an eight foot long, narrow piece of granite and keep the hole straight?  The dimensions of the stone are 8' x 4.5" x 9" (244 cm x 11 cm x 23 cm).  I have a SDS rotary hammer.  I could weld extensions to a bit but I think the welds could break and leave the bit in the stone.  I  could try an 8' pipe or steel rod extension but don't know if the flex would transmit the hammer blows.  To negate the effects of gravity on the bit I could rotate the stone every so often.  There is a grain in the stone and it is diagonal to the direction I will drill.  Do I need a bigger pneumatic stone drill?  Any ideas on how this could be accomplished?

Thanks,
Glenn