Replies

1. 
   boysie39 | Sep 22, 2007 01:09am | #1

   FORESTGIRL, I had the same prob. on a small garden fountain also with a bird. What I did was drill a hole in the bird that will take a nail, 4"/6", drill the same in the piece where it is to fit and glue away. It worked for me hope this helps.Regds.Boysie Slan Leat.

   I'm never always right  but i'm always never wrong. Boysie
1. 
   forestgirl | Sep 22, 2007 03:26am | #3

   Boysie and Jeff -- do I need to use any special kind of drill bit?  The only cement I've every tried to drill was Portland cement and wow, what a drag.  Oh, the cement blocks in the wall of my shop were easy.  But I think I used a cement-drill of some sort.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   saschafer | Sep 22, 2007 03:48am | #4

   You can use an off-the-shelf carbide-tipped masonry bit. Yes, it's a pain to drill concrete, but you'll eventually get through it. If you have or can get your hands on a hammer drill, it will go quite a bit faster.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   forestgirl | Sep 22, 2007 05:32am | #5

   "Yes, it's a pain to drill concrete, but you'll eventually get through it."  Ya think?!  I'll tell ya, that Portland cement experience (or whatever it is my shop floor is made of) was a complete bust.  I rented a hammer drill, went at it with masonry bits, and got absolutely nowhere.  I was trying to anchor a new wall to the floor, but it was a no-go.  That was back before I started hanging out here.  Got any ideas?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   tinkerer2 | Sep 22, 2007 05:50am | #6

   Was it a new drill bit, or was the hammer drill working?  It should have bored down with out too much trouble.  Not as fast as boring wood, perhaps, but faster than boring in steel.  Just for information, it is actually concrete, not cement.  Cement is the stuff that when mixed with aggregate and water makes the concrete.  You probably knew that as most everyone calls the stuff cement..

   Edited 9/21/2007 10:53 pm ET by tinkerer2

2. 
   saschafer | Sep 22, 2007 09:54pm | #7

   It depends on the particulars of the concrete. The cement and sand is generally easy to get through, but the aggregate can be nearly impossible. If whoever poured the slab used a lot of large-diameter aggregate, and it happens to be an especially hard material, getting a clean hole can be next to impossible without using a diamond hole saw. (The hole saw works kind of like a Forstner bit works in wood.)

   None of that should be a problem with your cast figure. (Knock on wood/concrete.)

   -Steve

    

3. 
   boysie39 | Sep 23, 2007 12:19am | #8

   FORESTGIRL, A masonry bit and a hammer drill drill either one off the mains or a battery drill/driver should do the trick. I used an 8mm which is about 5/16" I think.I'm sure epoxy would be fine to glue it.I've never used epoxy I think it was some stuff called HARD AS NAILS and it hasent moved as yet and its been shifted on a few occasions, Regds Boysie Slan Leat.I'm never always right  but i'm always never wrong. Boysie

2. 
   JeffHeath | Sep 22, 2007 01:37am | #2

   Epoxy is definately the best solution to the problem.  Depending on how large the piece is that broke off, two holes with rebar, or a large sized nail, as the previous post suggest, will help align and hold the piece while the epoxy sets.

   Jeff

3. 
   Steinmetz | Sep 23, 2007 01:10am | #9

   Hey Gurl, Stein here. Most people attempting to drill concrete for the first time,either use too big a drill or too fast a speed. As one who's drilled thousands of holes in concrete, (even granite) I generally keep a soda can of water on hand. Don't start using a carbide drill smaller than 5/16"

   If you need to enlarge the hole, use the next wider bit and graduate to a wider one if needed. Wet the surface (and the drill)and occasionally flush out the 'slurry' and continue, remembering to go slow.

   Also work the bit in and out till you're deep enough. Rather than a nail, (Which will bleed rust stains) use brass brazing rod pieces.

   Since you'll need at least two(2)rods, first sharpen a short wood pencil to fit in the first hole and position the broken section to mark off of the projecting pencil point (I apply masking tape to the short section (The better to show the mark)

   Drill the first mating hole and use a temporary rod plus, move the pencil tip to indicate the last hole in the mating piece
   Before applying the epoxy,let the concrete dry amd have a ton of electrical tape and wood splints and get hubby to help applying the 'tourniquet'

   It may help to roll the ornament on it's side (Or end) so the broken piece can use gravity to keep it in place while the epoxy cures.

   Good luck, Steinmetz.

   Sand ,gravel, bricks, etc ,will steady and protect the whole procedure

   
   

   ---

   Edited 9/22/2007 6:41 pm ET by Steinmetz

1. 
   forestgirl | Sep 23, 2007 03:18am | #10

   Thanks, Stein!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   boysie39 | Sep 23, 2007 09:03pm | #11

   FORESTGIRL, DID I MISS SOMETHING,DID YOU POST A PICTURE OF THIS BIRD PROBLEM YOU HAVE,OR IS IT ONE OF THEM PREHISTORIC BIRDS?.
   I know you Americans are prone to everything being large,machinery and and Houses and cars,but from the way Stein is talking,"rolling it over on the groung" forget what I said I was just thinking it was an ordinary garden monument, not the bird on the Empire State Building.
   Best of luck with it make sure you have all permits etc.Regds. Boysie Slan Leat.I'm never always right  but i'm always never wrong. Boysie

1. 
   forestgirl | Sep 24, 2007 05:06pm | #12

   Too funny you are, Boysie.  Nah, it's just a wee thing, maybe 16" tall.  That's the squirrel with the binoculars.  The bird came off it's binocular perch.  Probably whacked off by some errant coyote.  We have those here on the Island, ya know.  Nah, they're not that stupid.

   Want to hear something incredibly weird?  Last night, we were watching a movie at home, and I had given one of the kitties a little toy mouse, cloth with a tiny bell on it.  Could hear her batting it around the bedroom -- jingle, jingle.  Then there was a short silence, and the batting-around continued, into the living room where we were.  I watched her for a minute before I realized what she was playing with was half-again as big as the toy mouse, and a different color.  "What's that?" I said.

   Then I bent over to look at it.  "What's THAT?!!!" I hollered.  Hubby came in and checked out the fawn-colored bit I was looking at, claws clearly visible.  Holy *^$# it was a paw -- the pads, claws and skin of a paw.  Hubby said it was tanned inside (leather-tanned he meant) so supposedly it came off of someone's trophy, a bobcat or something similar.

   OK, lemme get this straight....the toy mousie went in the bedroom, the dead but real foot came out of the bedroom.  What kind of Star Trek style energy field is under the bed?!  I still haven't found the mousie!!!!

   One of the cats must have brought that foot in from outside, but where the heck they found it is beyond me!

    

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

   Edited 9/24/2007 10:08 am by forestgirl

1. 
   Recounter | Sep 24, 2007 11:55pm | #13

   LOL!!! Too funny! One of your neighbors is probably royally PO'd that his prize wildcat trophy (which was drying on the deck) has been disfigured!!

2. 
   forestgirl | Sep 25, 2007 01:06am | #14

   What you really won't believe -- the first thing I did when I realized I was looking at a fawn-colored foot was to glance at our Golden Retriever and make sure he had all of his!  EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!  It was truly a sci-fi moment.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)