Summary

mini drill press hack

Since nobody but me has this exact, ancient binocular microscope ($20 flea market bonanza), the STL file is useless. But the idea may be worth something. People may have done a similar scope-hack and if so, credit to them.

I had to drill a bunch of very tiny holes in steel with the delicate solid carbide micro-drill bits from Harbor Freight.

Although I planned on printing the whole drill press from scratch, the scope's large, stable table, precise rack-pinion vertical control and dovetailed ways was too attractive.

Everything was easy, from design to print, and it worked on the first try, so I thought I'd share it.
For stability, sections are thick at 0.25 inch.
Part weighs 47g plus 10g support. It was a two hour print using "Normal" quality and 0.30mm layers (Afinia default settings).

There's a big enough hole to fit the Dremel tool itself, but I didn't want to suffer the weight and torque, and the design would be complicated, so I chose the flex shaft (with foot switch). It has a 0.5 inch diameter body and fits really tight in the 0.5 inch hole. No nut/screw is required across the split flanges.

Chips and dust go everywhere so the next thing is a protective cover for the mechanism made from plastic wrap or something. And then maybe attach a large magnifier..