Lake Superior Rock Candle Holders

I saw a picture of some tea light candle holders carved out of lake rocks, and they were pretty expensive for a rock. I thought I would try to make my own.

I measured a standard tea light candle, then bought a set of 10 inexpensive (about $12) cylindrical “diamond-tipped” drill bits online that had at least one drill bit the size I needed for the final hole size for the candle, plus smaller bits to clear out all of the rock from the hole. I ended up using four of the bits- the size 40 mm, 34 mm, 20 mm and 13 mm.

When we were visiting Lake Superior in Duluth, I pressed my family into helping me find a few fairly flat rocks, about 4 inches in diameter or so.

This drilling takes longer than you think, so plan some time. I found that the red rocks are softer and faster to drill than the gray ones. It goes without saying that safety is paramount. I used a vise to hold the rock, so my hand was never near the drill bit, and safety googles. I also took care not to have the body of the drill get wet.

To drill rock, you need to keep it and the drill bit area very wet, preferably under a small stream of water. My first time, I did it out on our front stoop with the hose, but I found it easier the second time to try it in the laundry sink with a small stream of water. I used the old Rockwell drill that my husband inherited from his grandfather, it's likely to be about 45-50 years old but not only is it still ticking, it's a lot better than the weak battery-powered drills which seem to be the only kind sold now.

Secure the rock in the vise, get your small stream of water going and start drilling, holding the vise to keep things steady. Don’t use a lot of pressure down on the drill. Start with the largest bit, then gradually keep changing the bits smaller and smaller and grind out bits of rock from the hole. 

Each rock seems to take about 20 min or so of grinding away. Afterwards, wash your drill bits well and put a light layer of oil on them to keep them from rusting.

Here are the final results:

Here are the three I made a few months earlier: