Stone Carving: the jump to power tools

[Ken Barnes <barnestrav@zzzzzzzzz>]

Ad,

You are at a tough spot. I was there 7 years ago and it was difficult
to be productive.  The one thing I found out very quickly was that I
could not carve in the basement.  No matter what I did there was
absolutely no way to keep the dust in the basement if I used any power.
 I once tried an angle grinder in a sealed room with tape over the
vents and blankets in front of the door, but by the next morning there
was a fine layer of dust over every horizontal surface in the house.  I
ended up putting in a compressor in the basement to contain the noise
and then taking the hose outside to work.  That was good for about 3
months.  (Then I found a well-lit concrete bunker garage that I could
get as dirty as I wanted, which worked wonderfully for a couple years.)
 The main problem with working in the yard was moving around stone, and
the setup/takedown time required every time I wanted to work in the
yard.

I don't know where you are writing from, but in North America most
compressors of significance require 220 or 240 volt power.  Your rental
may or may not have this available in a spare outlet, which may
therefore limit your tool choice.  If you know basic wiring you can
easily create such an outlet.  If you don't know wiring then you will
need to invest in an electrician.

I personally love my little air polisher, but given your description of
your work it sounds like hand polishing may be the way to go.
Regarding core drills, I have a hard time running it once they exceed
about 1.5 inches in diameter, so move to a drill press, which takes a
steady mount and ample water.

Good luck, Ken Barnes