Chuck Seiler

Were you able to determine if the vertical post could be removed/replaced?

A #76 drill bit is .02" and #70 is .028".  If those are too small for the chuck, I believe there are mini chucks availabe with 1/8" shaft that can be chucked into the drill,  IIRC they go down to 0.

It's not really intended for anything but light work.
 
The head moves up and down as smooth as can be.  The spindle and motor are very quiet.  I believe the spindle uses some type of roller or ball bearings.
Is their any way to tell without taking it apart?

I have a Vanda-Lay Dremel mototool drill press stand also. I agree, it's far better than the version made by Dremel and the best option out there short of a dedicated benchtop drill press or mill. I have a dedicated new-style Dremel tool mounted in it and haven't noticed any mounting problems. I believe Vanda-Lay may offer different mounting collars for the old-style and new-style Dremel mototools. I gave them a call some time back to ask if they had a mounting collar that would fit a one-inch Foredom handpiece and they said that indeed they did and could provide one on special order. I've never gotten around to ordering one since I have another small combination drill press and milling machine. I'm presently musing about buying the additional parts and turning my Vanda-Lay drill press stand into the full-blown Vanda-Lay combo drill press and X-Y-Z milling machine to use with my Foredom flex shaft machine. I'm curious about the rigidity and accuracy of their new mill/drill and I expect its milling ability is somewhat limited by the power source options. If anybody has one, I'd like to know their thoughts.
 
The entire Vanda-Lay line, which keeps growing, seems extremely clever and reasonably priced. The fit and finish of the entire system, which is entirely CNC-machined aluminum and stainless steel (I think the support post rods are, as I recall.) is perfectly executed. Their system keeps growing. After expanding their milling stand to include a Z-axis, they now have accessories that turn it into a wood turning lathe, a grinding stand, a table router, circular cut-off saw, and grinding and buffing mandrel. Over the years I've acquired more dedicated small power tools than I have time to use and hardly need any of the Vanda-Lay system products because I already have dedicated machines to do all this combination system does, but I still want one because they are just so darn neat.  I would say that, regrettably, their main limitation is their dependence upon the Dremel mototool as a primary power source. The option of using the Foredom flex-shaft instead would, I anticipate, be a great improvement. Beyond that, if Vanda-Lay can ever develop their own foot-controlled variable-speed and reversible higher-powered and more compact and balanced power source, they'd be on their way to having an excellent candidate for the model engineering power tool niche once occupied by the venerable Unimat system which has been vacant for decades now.

12mm
I think extending it with a dowel or metal rod using a good coupling would be relatively simple, but I am going to start with rotating the head and elevating the table.
 
I am waiting for delivery of my rotary table today.  Hope to have update today or tomorrow.

A new sprit has been made, and I've started thinking about a crew.
 
The sprit (yard) has taken a bit of time and a new piece of kit - a mini bench-top disk sander & belt (this one).
From a task that was failing after a week of effort, the sprit was made in a couple of days - including setting up and learning the new equipment.


 

If, as I plan, I'll put a sail on this boat, it will need a crew.
It took me a while, but I remembered that I have some Historex figures in my spares box.
Historex figures are 54mm soldiers, mostly French Napoleonic.

These fellows volunteered for the job:


I feel that there is a better sense of scale with these two on board.
 
The guy at the back (tiller) started like this:

 
And now looks like this

 
A little more animated, if 'armless.

The man standing up will take a bit more thought - maybe something like this would work?


For clothing and 'fashion' inspiration, I'll use David Teniers the elder's paintings.
Another Dutch artist, Teniers was about 25 at the time of John Smith's expedition.

The vertical shaft (?) on the original press is only 8.66 inches.  At 5.31 inches in height, will this rotary table fit?

Did you attach a vice to it, or s all your work free standing?

TWO WEEKS LATER...  Have you had opportunity to use the press more since last posting?  Any further revelations?

The vertical shaft (?) on the original press is only 8.66 inches.  At 5.31 inches in height, will this rotary table fit?

I will be making a platform to raise the drill press to a working height for the table..
 
Stay tuned..

It should.  See my last reply to Chuck..  If it wasn't made clear earlier, the drill head can be positioned away from the provided table, or removed from it all together.

After looking at all the pictures of the drill press you could pretty much put anything under the head.  Looks to me all you have to do is replace the “support post”.  Make a longer one.  
 
yeah you have to figure out how much travel you would really need for a table but I think a longer support post would cure that part of the problem.  
 
Course  guess that part was obvious🤪🤪

O.K., Call me indecisive. 
 
When I was clicking through small vises at amazon, I was presented with this.
 

BACHIN Rotary Table  $57.59
Check out the video for an idea of the working parameters.
Decent ( cheap ) mini-vises  + an X-Y table were pushing if not exceeding that price point.
 
I feel this will give better control than moving a vise around on an X-Y table, and the movement range should be adequate for my needs.
  I won't have it until Saturday, so won't have an update until then.

I will be very interested to see what you come up with.  Some of these on Amazon are being sold with a little plastic vice that looks pretty lame.    Thanks for you valuable research!

Did you attach a vice to it, or s all your work free standing?

TWO WEEKS LATER...  Have you had opportunity to use the press more since last posting?  Any further revelations?

I'm working on putting together a small vice and X-Y table.   I will need to elevate the drill press.
 
Hope to post update soon.

Did you attach a vice to it, or s all your work free standing?

TWO WEEKS LATER...  Have you had opportunity to use the press more since last posting?  Any further revelations?

Have not used it a lot, but have not uncovered any concerns.   I feel it is well made, and have not detected any play in the mechanism.
 
I don't foresee doing any work with it that would tax it to any extent. 
 
If you have any specific task you would like for me  to attempt,  I would give it a shot if I have the materials available.  I think I might be limited by the quality of my bits.
 
I have no reservations about recommending it to anyone who could see this fitting into their work environment.
 

I don't anticipate doing any work that can't be done with the 1/8 shank micro drills, and I have them at least as small as #81.

Thanks Richard, I'll try the PVA.

 
Yeah, seeing the pinging PE in your build was my prompt to have some ready-made chain on hand.

Welcome to the club! 🙂🙂

Your boat's looking very good.
 
I've pulled ropes until the slack is taken out then applied PVA to the rope to stiffen it. This usually works. CA will certainly stiffen the rope, but also hardens it and I've had thin lines break because of that. 
 
Cheers