Success at drilling long holes in granite

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

All,
My original question was:  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?
I am amazed.  After days of drilling, two holes from each end of the granite met in the middle this evening.  Thanks to Charlie, Bill W. and Tracy for your replies.   I contacted Alan at www.stoneandwater.com< http://www.stoneandwater.com/ > and he thought I could go ahead and try my SDS drill instead of buying a diamond core bit.  Here is what worked the best.  I made a four foot long bit out of 5/8" allthread.  First I removed the carbide tip from a 5/8" SDS bit, cut a slot in the end of the allthread, and brazed the carbide into the slot.  On the drill end of the bit, I bought a coupling nut at the local nuts and bolts store, screwed it onto the allthread and brazed it also.  A coupling nut is a 2 inch long nut with right-hand threads cut in each end.  I then cut off the drill end of the 5/8' SDS bit and brazed it into the coupling nut.  Last, I heat-treated both ends as discussed here earlier today.  It lasted a good while.  I eventually had to re-do both ends a couple of t
 imes except for when I didn't get a good heat treatment.  The heat treating was very important.  Twice I didn't do a good job hardening the drill end and It twisted off in less than a minute.  To start the holes I rigged up a jig to keep them aligned and level.  Once the holes were started, they never drifted.  Of course the bit drilled fastest after I sharpened it.  Every quarter inch I ran copper tubing to the end of the hole and blew the dust out with compressed air.  The stone is 7'1" and not 8' like I first thought.  Overall, it was quite a fight.  Next time I could do it a lot quicker but I think I'll look into the diamond core bits.
Thanks,
Glenn