Stone Carving: the jump to power tools

["Ad Sach Singh" <adsach@zzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

I would like some help in selecting the next generation of stone carving equipment.
Let me describe my situation a little:

Medium: Marble
I purchased 4 really attractive blocks of Vermont marble at Gawet Marble 7 Granite last month. I enjoyed the people, the drive through New Hampshire & Vermont, and the selection of stone so I think I will be working with marble for the next several sculptures

Size: I prefer working with at least one dimension over 2 ft and have a 2 ton engine hoist, but until I get a trailer, I am limitted to about 250 lb blocks.

Style: I find myself wanting to detailed animalistic shapes with multiple large and small openings - think T'ai Chi meets Dancing Shiva carved out of a single block. OK - hopefully more attractive than than picture LOL

Spaces:
Gazebo - Right now I am working in a screened Gazebo with a wooden floor and electric outlets. This is in the back yard of a residential neighborhood so I am not comfortable operating machines for the whole neighboorhood to hear. Given the wooden floor, it is also unsuitable for wet work though I have lawn and patio area under trees. The Gazebo screens are real nice for catching the rock chips from hammer and chisel work.

Basement - I have a large, pleasant temperature basement with some natural light. This is a rental, so I am not going to go for an elaborate installation, but I would like to set aside a sealed area with forced air ventialtion for machine carving and polishing.

Current Tools: Hand chisels, hammers, rasp and files, face shield, gloves, bench grinder, electric drill, 4" angle grinder with a sintered diamond cup wheel, belt sander.

Future needs:
I picture myself drilling many, many 3/4" and smaller holes, with parallel holes excavating an area up to 8 inches deep or more. I imagine diamond core drills with water feed would be just about perfect. A water swivel with an electric drill seems risky for any direction except down.

For cleaning up delicate and undercut areas, I imagine that a low impact power hammer would drive tooth and flat chisels better than my hands on a 2lb hammer. I believe I need power tools for delicacy and detail rather than for strength and speed.

My wrists don't last a long time on repetitive back and forth motions (like waxing a car) so I am thinking it would be helpful to to use power tools for polishing and buffing.

- - - - bottom line - - - -

I feel like I am at a crossroads where I need to make some well considered choices and rely on the experience of others rather than spend hundreds of dollars on the less pleasant and effective choices. I'd rather have a few high-quality, versatile tools that I use a lot than a shelf full of specialized tools that I don't fully understand how to use. I have been looking around the internet tool catalogs, etc and have found more options than clear solutions.

Wet or dry?
Air or electric?
What do you think I should choose?

Thank you for your consideration and help,

Ad Sach