Nirvana

Don't confuse Vanda-Lay industries with Vandelay industries, two completely different things.

This review and introduction of the VandaLay Industries - product Hold it Plus - is from a pure personal point of view and not related to the company. I bought this along with another tool that will be reviewed as well. Vanda Lay is located in Irvine, California and is a small family business. I was impressed by the courtliness of the owner himself when he answered the phone and I realized I had caught him on personal time, together with his wife they were on their way to get one of their kids. He took time with me and the order over the phone, excusing that one (this particular unit) was not complete for direct shipping. He said probably by Friday he had time to do something about it. As I was not in any rush to get the " Hold it Plus" I was very surprised receiving my whole order five days later!! That's including shipping. The bottom holding piece is cnc'd from heavy aluminium, other pieces of aluminum is very lightweight and I am suspecting it is T-1011 (aircraft aluminium). All the pieces fits perfectly together. The assembly is easy even without instructions. It is very straight forward. Think "Bottom plate and work upwards." One of the areas that are need of Loctite is the assembly of the drill frame. Here the Loctite Threadlocker Blue 242 is a good choice. It holds and locks but still when needed easily broken. One locking screw seems to be missing, both in pictures from the company itself but also not part of the "kit" The locking screw I am looking for is for the swivel base of the drill. Most mini drill i.e Dremel, Proxxon and more are supposed to fit with the "Multi fit clamp" Here I would recommend adding some kind of padding, both for more even tension but also for not get any marking on your power tool. I have the Dremel XPR 400 the most powerful of the Dremels, when turning it on , even without the padding there were no vibrations. On the other hand, here is where I would like to see a more model shaped clamp. There is way to much space for the powertool to start wandering off the line of work. I don't think "One Clamp fits all" is the way to go. As for the other tool from this company I am to make a review of I am afraid it will be the same as for the fitting. There are room for improvements. Overall, I do look forward of working with this accessory especially for small part jobs. It is sturdy and will last forever. I am working on creating an instruction for this tool, both assembly wise but also for various work. One area I notice this can be useful is making many belaying pins in a sequence, like a mini lathe.

Augie, My warmest (because it's cold outside) and happiest birthday wishes to you. You better get well soon as I am also missing your fabulous build log with regular updates. I will have a grogg for you tonight.

Wondering if drilling the holes prior shaping would be better.

My first attempt making my own oars. This one is from the beginning a 5/32" square boxwood piece with a 1/16" boxwood plank

Erik, I am to use the boxwood which I got from HobbyMill. And it is a square piece which has to become octagon before any rounding and shaping can take place.

Erik, I like that simple contraption of yours. I am about to do my mast and booms so your idea comes handy because I have been pondering how to taper the masts instead of doing by hand. Thanks for the idea.

Jazzchip, I would recommend you to look into the brand Panavise. They have several different vises but the best of it they have a variety of clamps or just vacuum base as well. I received the following clamp yesterday and it is doing the job without marring.

Joss, Making the belaying pin is not that hard, take it from me. It was the first time doing them for me, please check my build log. A dremel with a chuck, something to hold the Dremel insert the right size square boxwood and as Chuck explained to me "use files to shape" Good luck.

Augie, We will all be thinking of you for a quick recovery. Btw, your Confederacy looks amazing and your log will help me once the day comes.

I am surprised how the boxwood is changing color so quickly being exposed to air. A newly sanded area is so lighter than a sanded area from two hours ago. However, the windlass is now varnished.

Mark, Thank you..... Next step will be the installation of the windlass.

So I decided to go ahead and to have the windlass. I made a made a new windlass even though the "old" one was more than okay. The tricky part was to make octagon ends, these are only 2.5mm or 3/32" wide.

Allan, that explanation and pictures along with Jaagers it all make sense. Thank you both of you.

I am scratching my head over this. Many of are building the longboat, and the plans shows a very low seated windlass. I have been thinking over this and the purpose of it, can anyone shed some light in this matter? ​

Gil, Are you trying to make me jealous? I know what you have been up to, that business card you gave me says it all......... I am glad you had a good time off-shore. Just wish I could have enjoy such time too........

Mark, I understand it completely why to have a windlass on a bigger ship and I appreciate your knowledge along with Chuck's and yes, from that perspective it should be there. Having a longboat for dropping the ship anchor in another location further away makes perfectly sense. I have finished the windlass but still after some deliberating with myself I am oblivious, not knowing which way to go. The windlass turned out real good, but I don't like the look this part of the boat, it just doesn't look right to me. I did a fast sketch and I think I know why they had a windlass.... The longboat had the big ship anchor on line in tow, then by either sailing or rowing (primary) to a farther point dropping the ship anchor and get going for another 15 yards dropping their own. This way the windlass in the longboat could be used for pulling with less effort. Correct me if I am wrong, the windlass on the longboat is not for the use of the longboat itself, but together with the mother ship. Other longboats I seen in drawings doesn't have the windlass......

The octagonal end of the windlass as per instructions. I am still debating if or not to go with the windlass.

So I started working on the windlass, but then I wondered .... "a windlass this size on a 26ft longboat"? It doesn't make any sense. The windlass this size to scale together with a strong anchor and line could only been used to haul the big ship forward over shallow water or when no wind was to any advantage. I have been pulling out anchors by hand that a 40ft yacht has been using. Now I wonder did a long boat have a windlass at all? When I was in the Navy and we did our synchronized training with "rowing whale boats" which also could be sailed, we didn't have any windlass. The length of the piece according to plan doesn't match my boat so I did adjust it accordingly.

Sure a laser cutting machine would be fun to have, but can I justify the cost for my hobby? My scroll saw is still in the box, not used so far and I paid 150 dollars for it at a sale out, not the regular 210 as the price had been for the time being. When it comes to laser cut items, I will send my DWG drawings to Chuck and pay for the extra service. Guess I can get a lot of laser cutting for 2000 dollars plus.

Erik, very nice work. Getting close to the rigging process.

The replacement as for rigging from Syren Model Company.

Tony, I was surprised reading your question and found the measures in mm. I knew UK has been going through a "metrication" which started a long time and I thought the program stalled. Some reading later and I found the opposite. Seems like one of very few areas in UK using Imperial units is the speed limits on the road. Chuck, how hard would it be to have the metric measurement in future instructions along with a secondary imperial. I think most of us builder are very used to the metric. I enjoy building this little boat.

The progress of the night. Dang how pictures from the camera can reveal more than the eye can see... Well there is nothing to be done.

The piece that is inserted at the stem under the cap rail had to be resized. The provided piece was to small and had another curve than my boat. I am happy with the outcome and I think everyone can see which is the homemade and which came with the kit.