Impulse Purchase Atlas Mill

Well I said that I was not going to mess with it till I have more time but Robert has me curious.So I went out and took the spindle out of the mill just to see if it would come out,no problem.Guys pulling the arbor out,I know its a #2MT but what else do I need to know so that I can find me another #2MT adaptor for an end mill?I plan on buying it from Jeff at tools4cheap,http://www.tools4cheap.net/proddetail.php?prod=mt2em so if this is something that you do on your atlas mill,please point me in the right direction.I don't want to buy something that I can't use.Guys one more question,my arbor is 7/8 and I have no cutters so before I buy some cutters for the 7/8 arbor is there any reason why I should move up to a bigger arbor?Tools4cheap sales arbors also up to 1 1/4 I think---kroll

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The gibs were perfect but the outline of the table was not parallel to them. It made setup more difficult because nothing on the table was square to the cut.
I mounted the table vertical on a Bridgeport locating it with drill rods in the gib. I got perfect alignment this way and the cut was easy.
Of course it took me a while to figure out how to mount it easily.

If you tear it down, it's pretty easy but identify and save the column shims so you can replace them accordingly.

Again, get on the yahoo user group.

UOTE=Kroll;163931]Sweeper,if you get a chance please post pics of your mods love to see it.I don't know enough about this mill nor milling to want to make changes to mine but maybe in the future,but I hope this one the table is not out.But I will check it just in case,how did you go about correcting your table??GMC,I did plan on taking it apart and just do a good cleaning and check all the gears and try to get it all tune up,once I learn how to do that---kroll[/QUOTE]
 
There are plenty of 7/8 cutters avail. A problem you will run into with a bigger shaft/ cutters is the clearance to the upper arm. I use th 7/8 arbor but made spacers for the larger cutters I run into cheap.


QUOTE=Kroll;164027]Well I said that I was not going to mess with it till I have more time but Robert has me curious.So I went out and took the spindle out of the mill just to see if it would come out,no problem.Guys pulling the arbor out,I know its a #2MT but what else do I need to know so that I can find me another #2MT adaptor for an end mill?I plan on buying it from Jeff at tools4cheap,http://www.tools4cheap.net/proddetail.php?prod=mt2em so if this is something that you do on your atlas mill,please point me in the right direction.I don't want to buy something that I can't use.Guys one more question,my arbor is 7/8 and I have no cutters so before I buy some cutters for the 7/8 arbor is there any reason why I should move up to a bigger arbor?Tools4cheap sales arbors also up to 1 1/4 I think---kroll[/QUOTE]
 
Nice score Kroll!

The Atlas Mill is a very appropriate size for the home shop. To start, clean the machine and look for broken parts.
Many of the diecast components are a bit thin and break easily. On my mill the hand knob for the Change-O-Matic broke during a move.
When I bought mine, the power feed universals were broke, the table nut badly worn and the Motor and Jack shaft pulleys missing.

Making the parts saves a lot of money. Making Accessories saves a LOT more. By the way you have a machine shop, make it don't buy it.
As an added benefit you will learn a lot.

My machine came with a vise, 7/8 arbor plus 400 dull cutters. (They have since been sharpened.)
I have built a horizontal indexer and rotary table, shell mill and end mill holders etc.

One of the short commings of the Atlas Mill is a short saddle travel. End mill holders with a MT#2 taper shank are often too long.

I am planning on purchasing some MT #2 Collets, 3/8 & 1/2 Dia. This should keep the cantilever short and thus rigid.

I do not recommend a 1.25 dia arbor for the Atlas. The cutters are usually to large in outside diameter for this mill.
A cutter diameter over 3 inch diameter has to be used with great care as to not overload the Back Gears driving the spindle.
Stay away from carbide cutters as the mill lacks rigidity and vibration will break carbide.

Sources of cutters: Craigslist, Flea Markets, Garage Sales, Estate Sales etc. are the lowest cost. Consider sales when a shop goes out of business.

A very large business in Rochester NY has been down sizing for over 15 years; from 66,000 employees in (1965) to approx. 8,800 world wide now.
As shops were disbanded or down sized, toolmakers were directed to empty tool cabinates and & cribs into the dumpster!
Many of these individules had the forsight to ask management for a "Property Pass" and the tools went home!

I have purchased new tools for my home shop from the following suppliers:Enco.com, Victornet.com, MSCDirect.com, Tavers.com, Shars.com & Wholesaletool.com.

Enjoy!
 
Restorer thanks for the information,now I see why I need to stick with the 7/8 arbor.I also plan on purchasing a set of 2MT collets just for the reason you gave(thanks) I do want to try and make my own parts,sometimes if you get a chance please post pics of your horizontal indexer and rotary table.I seen a rotary table go for 800 on ebay,I do want to try and learn how to make gears it that is possible on the machines I have.Thanks for the list on where to shop----kroll
 
Kroil, You are welcome. Will try to gather some pics. I have posted a lot of Atlas info in "Downloads" to assist you fellows.
I don't know why it is taking so long to get it back on line. Pictures, drawings with dimensions and articles were very helpful to me and I was passing them along to help others. When its back up I have more to add and it will be worth your while to view it.
 
Kroll,

I'm still working on the age question. All that I can say for sure right now is that it's 1944 or earlier. One of the problems is that from your original two photos, I can see that it has a 3-step pulley on the countershaft (the one toward the front of the lathe, and I have to assume a 3-step spindle pulley. That does not jive with the 1962 Atlas Bulletin MMB-5, which has parts lists for the MF, MFA, MFB and MFC. According to it, Serial Numbers 200 to 1344 had 4-step pulleys and 1345 to 5465 have 3-step. The MF I am getting is S/N 26xx (can't read the last two digits in the photo I have) and has 3-step pulleys. Which agrees with the drawing and parts lists in MMB-5. If as I suspect, someone changed the spindle and countershaft pulleys from 4-step, then the mill is 1941 or earlier as I have a mid-1942 catalog which shows 3-step pulleys.

Also, the original motor pulleys and the motor belt's countershaft pulleys were both 2-step on all models.

If our Downloads were available, I would upload the file. I also cannot put it on Yahoo as their Files Upload quit working earlier this week. Or rather, it works but it increases the file size about 30% and the resultant file is corrupted and won't open. If you want the Bulletin, send me your email address.

Robert D.
 
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