Looking for an Atlas milling attachment

[L1A1Rocker]

I need a new tool. I've been prototyping a QA/QD muzzle brake from aluminum and realized I cannot do it with what I have. I cannot correctly line up the side ports by hand. I believe that a 10-502 milling attachment for my Atlas 12x36 lathe will do what I need done.

I've looked on fleabay and it's a joke. If you can find a 502 (not the 501 for the 6 inch lathe. it's much smaller) it's either overpriced, junk, or both. Anyone know a good place to look for a good 502 for under 2 bills?

It looks like this:
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Atlas-Craftsman-10-501-Milling-Attachment-for-10-12-Lathe-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/5IsAAOxyqOxRx0Bt/$T2eC16Z,!zcE9s4g3Ic,BR)0Bt!(ww~~60_35.JPG

If you'll notice, it has four gib screws with one serving as a gib lock. The smaller one looks almost exactly like it (much smaller version) but can be IDed in a photo because it only has three gib screws.

If anyone can point me toward a good one I sure would be grateful.

[codgerville@zianet.com]

I need a new tool. I've been prototyping a QA/QD muzzle brake from aluminum and realized I cannot do it with what I have. I cannot correctly line up the side ports by hand. I believe that a 10-502 milling attachment for my Atlas 12x36 lathe will do what I need done.

I've looked on fleabay and it's a joke. If you can find a 502 (not the 501 for the 6 inch lathe. it's much smaller) it's either overpriced, junk, or both. Anyone know a good place to look for a good 502 for under 2 bills?

It looks like this:
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Atlas-Craftsman-10-501-Milling-Attachment-for-10-12-Lathe-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/5IsAAOxyqOxRx0Bt/$T2eC16Z,!zcE9s4g3Ic,BR)0Bt!(ww~~60_35.JPG

If you'll notice, it has four gib screws with one serving as a gib lock. The smaller one looks almost exactly like it (much smaller version) but can be IDed in a photo because it only has three gib screws.

If anyone can point me toward a good one I sure would be grateful.
Don't have an Atlas, but I have a Palmgren 250 that I used on my 9" South Bend before I bought a mill-drill. Don't know if it would work on a 12" swing.

[David2011]

Under 2 bills? I bought a full size mill for less than $2K.

David

[codgerville@zianet.com]

[QUOTE=David2011;2459365]Under 2 bills? I bought a full size mill for less than $2K.

David[/QUOTE
2 bills = $200.00.

[bangerjim]

Depends on the capacity you need. I have 2 of those, but do all my milling in my 3 mill machines. A lathe is just not solid enough for the heavy work I many times have to do.

I did adapt one of these to work on my 3C collet precision lathe:

http://www.taigtools.com/c1220.html

It is very well built for small jobs. You will have to make a base riser for you Atlas. But for the price, it is a nice piece to have aorund. Takes a bit of mod.

Taig is about 7 miles from me, so I was able to "touch-n-feel" everything b4 buying.

PM me if you want more info.

bangerjim

[ph4570]

I sold one just a couple of weeks ago. I jest you not -- it was like new. I bought it about 25 years ago as NOS along with a still crated 12x36 atlas/Clausing lathe which I still have. Sold on fleabay very quickly for $325.

I used it only a few times and it did the jobs but very tedious. You may be better off in the long run getting a small milling machine. I got the Grizly G0704 and am pleased with it for what it is. I have nearly finished converting it to CNC. That has been a fun project.

[DCM]

Would something like this work for you?
http://www.grizzly.com/products/T10721

[L1A1Rocker]

Don't have an Atlas, but I have a Palmgren 250 that I used on my 9" South Bend before I bought a mill-drill. Don't know if it would work on a 12" swing.

It might but I'm trying to stay away from rocker arm mounted milling attachments. The Atlas actually mounts be removing the compound and attaching where the compound does.

Thanks.

[L1A1Rocker]

Depends on the capacity you need. I have 2 of those, but do all my milling in my 3 mill machines. A lathe is just not solid enough for the heavy work I many times have to do.

I did adapt one of these to work on my 3C collet precision lathe:

http://www.taigtools.com/c1220.html

It is very well built for small jobs. You will have to make a base riser for you Atlas. But for the price, it is a nice piece to have aorund. Takes a bit of mod.

Taig is about 7 miles from me, so I was able to "touch-n-feel" everything b4 buying.

PM me if you want more info.

bangerjim
Not sure about adapting that Taig unit. It looks like it does not rotate and would have to be mounted to the compound, rather than in place of the compound.

You say you have two of the large, 4 gib Atlas milling attachments?

[L1A1Rocker]

I sold one just a couple of weeks ago. I jest you not -- it was like new. I bought it about 25 years ago as NOS along with a still crated 12x36 atlas/Clausing lathe which I still have. Sold on fleabay very quickly for $325.

I used it only a few times and it did the jobs but very tedious. You may be better off in the long run getting a small milling machine. I got the Grizly G0704 and am pleased with it for what it is. I have nearly finished converting it to CNC. That has been a fun project.

Just my luck, I was in the Hospital two weeks ago. . .

[skeettx]

Long shot
I used to by my Atlas lathe stuff from Clausing
Maybe they have one left in stock????

Clausing Industrial, Inc.
1819 N. Pitcher Street
Kalamazoo, MI 49007-1886
Ph 800.323.0972
Fx 269.345.5945

Clausing Service Center
Ph 800.535.6553
Fx 269.342.7888

Mike
Yes, I looked the one for my 6" Atlas is marked M6-501

Mike

[David2011]

[QUOTE=David2011;2459365]Under 2 bills? I bought a full size mill for less than $2K.

David[/QUOTE
2 bills = $200.00.

Sorry, not the bills I was thinking of.

David

[akajun]

Dont waste your time or money. I had that exact attachement when I had my 12x36 atlas. It is not rigid at all, is hard to set up properly and tram, harder to see what your doing, and you also need a collet attachment or mt3 end mill holder and drawbar to hold the end mill. My little siegx2 I had at the time did a better job.
Buy a good knee mill.

[Bent Ramrod]

Something here might serve your needs.

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_search.php?criteria=lathe+milling+attachme nt&Search1=Search

Craig's List sometimes has Atlas bits, pieces and attachments, but you gotta be patient.

Yes, a Bridgeport vertical with a knee would be better. An Aciera vertical/horizontal with X, Y and Z power feeds would be even better. A Mori-Seiki CNC machining center would be better still. But you can do as good work with a lathe milling attachment as with anything else, if you are a hobbyist and have lots of time, little cash and minimal space for equipment. I made an extractor for my Stevens Offhand pistol on the milling attachment on my Atlas 6" lathe, and as a "onesie" it didn't take any longer than it would have on a Cincinnati with all the bells and whistles.

The old time machinists, with a shop full of equipment, would often sooner use the "vertical slide" on their lathes for small jobs rather than go to the trouble of setting the same one-off up on a big mill.

[L1A1Rocker]

OK folks, I GREATLY appriciate your assistance. Look what I came across in my late Father's shop, under a tarp. . . .

http://www.docsmachine.com/img/atlas01-1.jpg

That's just a stock photo off the web, but it's just like it minus the vise. I don't know why I didn't remember he had this thing, but it sure slipped my mind. Now if only it had the vise that went with it. . .

[codgerville@zianet.com]

OK folks, I GREATLY appriciate your assistance. Look what I came across in my late Father's shop, under a tarp. . . .

http://www.docsmachine.com/img/atlas01-1.jpg

That's just a stock photo off the web, but it's just like it minus the vise. I don't know why I didn't remember he had this thing, but it sure slipped my mind. Now if only it had the vise that went with it. . .
Clearly junk. Let me gas up my truck, where do you live?? Seriously, that is a great find, I looked for one for years. Small, but you can do plenty of top quality work with it. I have the 7" Atlas shaper to go with it. Should be a vise floating around somewhere.

[bangerjim]

OK folks, I GREATLY appriciate your assistance. Look what I came across in my late Father's shop, under a tarp. . . .

http://www.docsmachine.com/img/atlas01-1.jpg

That's just a stock photo off the web, but it's just like it minus the vise. I don't know why I didn't remember he had this thing, but it sure slipped my mind. Now if only it had the vise that went with it. . .

Good find.

Now get ready to shell out a ton of money for cutters if they are not under that tarp also! They are not cheap. That is why so many shops like mine have gone to Bridgeport style vertical mills. Those cutters are very inexpensive and easy to sharpen. But a horiz mill is sure nice to have around for those jobs where you need to plough some grooves and take some hogger cuts.

Let us know when you get it fired up!

banger

[akajun]

That little atlas horizontal is a mean machine for its size. The one in the pic is missing the x supports at the end of the overarm but can still be used as is, just cant take as big of a bite. BTW, horizontal milling cutters are cheap on ebay, you can often find them NIB for next to nothing. I just bought out an old machine shop and bought 300lbs in horizontal cutters and involute gear cutters for $200. Granted I have a Lagun FU1lac and not a tabletop. Look around for a vise, a quality vise that small is going to be hard to find.

[skeettx]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICE-KURT-8-PRECISION-ANGLOCK-MILLING-MACHINE-VISE-D80-/141105778118?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item20da8f4dc6#ht_2245wt_1166

[L1A1Rocker]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICE-KURT-8-PRECISION-ANGLOCK-MILLING-MACHINE-VISE-D80-/141105778118?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item20da8f4dc6#ht_2245wt_1166

Wow, that thing is a beast! Overall Dimensions: 24" x 17" x 7-1/2" tall and shipping is by freight, LOL.

It retails for over a grand. I bet it goes for 500+. Thanks for the heads up.

I did find a little 4 inch machine vise and a right angle to clamp it to in the shop. I'd much rather have an original rotary vise but their going for 300+ when they turn up. :(

[bangerjim]

That little atlas horizontal is a mean machine for its size. The one in the pic is missing the x supports at the end of the overarm but can still be used as is, just cant take as big of a bite. BTW, horizontal milling cutters are cheap on ebay, you can often find them NIB for next to nothing. I just bought out an old machine shop and bought 300lbs in horizontal cutters and involute gear cutters for $200. Granted I have a Lagun FU1lac and not a tabletop. Look around for a vise, a quality vise that small is going to be hard to find.

Chineese cutters are around on CrapBay, but I never use that place anymore.

All my cutters are indexable carbide insert style and....NO....they are NOT next to nothing in cost!!!!!!

banger

[akajun]

Chineese cutters are around on CrapBay, but I never use that place anymore.

All my cutters are indexable carbide insert style and....NO....they are NOT next to nothing in cost!!!!!!

banger

Not Chinese , nos American like national twist drill ' morse, etc. nobody wants old hss cutters horizontal anymore, everyone has insert itis nowadays. I'm just a hobbyist, I don't need to run balls to the wall

[Bret4207]

Might be a good idea to look around the shop some more! Atlas also made a little 7" shaper that's the cats for a lot of farm/one off machine work.

Home Shop Machinist had a good series on the Atlas mill, might have a video too.

IME light weight machine tools like the Atlas series do much, much better with HSS tooling than carbide. They just aren't rigid enough.

[KCSO]

Had two of those Atlas units at one time and they did a lot of jobs in fine fashion. They are not real heavy duty but take your time and they will do a whole lot for you. I was lucky enough that the one I bought had a whole drawer full of cutters.

[L1A1Rocker]

Might be a good idea to look around the shop some more! Atlas also made a little 7" shaper

Yep, got one of those too. That's what I pulled the little vise off of, still not an Atlas vise though :(
Honestly, I see what the shaper can do, but not real sure what it is practaclly used for.

[Alan in GA]

I sold the milling attachment along with a 12x36 Atlas lathe that I enjoyed for years. Rebarrelling and everything you never thought about doing until you have a lathe at the ready!
I'll ask if he'll sell it. I never used the milling attachment but have heard the same, not very practical except for small jobs. Still want me to see if he will sell it? [he never used it either and the whole lathe is for sale] I have a Clausing 12 x 36 but MISS the Atlas. It was in excellent barely used condition and I did rebarreling and chambering with it. Long bed, of course! Plenty of tooling to go along with it, too. [including a 6 jaw Tru Just chuck, 4 jaw, 3 jaw, collets, etc.]....anyway..I'd buy it back if I had SPACE to put it in!

[theperfessor]

I have a 7" South Bend shaper that I bought specifically to cut the vent lines on the faces of bullet molds. I have since used it to cut Charpy V-notch specimens for the impact tester in the mechanical test lab. Also used it to profile a couple of small cams for a fixture.

They won't really keep up with any decent mill but they do allow you to cut shapes and profiles with simple tooling. Dovetails of any angle, keyways and slots. etc. it's all in the tooling and the setup.

[L1A1Rocker]

I sold the milling attachment along with a 12x36 Atlas lathe that I enjoyed for years. Rebarrelling and everything you never thought about doing until you have a lathe at the ready!
I'll ask if he'll sell it. I never used the milling attachment but have heard the same, not very practical except for small jobs. Still want me to see if he will sell it? [he never used it either and the whole lathe is for sale] I have a Clausing 12 x 36 but MISS the Atlas. It was in excellent barely used condition and I did rebarreling and chambering with it. Long bed, of course! Plenty of tooling to go along with it, too. [including a 6 jaw Tru Just chuck, 4 jaw, 3 jaw, collets, etc.]....anyway..I'd buy it back if I had SPACE to put it in!

I've got a nice Atlas 12x36 lathe already and your right, it's amazing what you wind up using them for. I was really hot and heavy for the milling attachment but I'm rethinking that now. I think I can get this milling machine to do what I'm needing now so I'm going to hold off on the attachment.

I really appreciate your response and willingness to help me out. If I cannot get done what I'm needing with this mill, may I call on you in the future?

Again, thanks

[akajun]

That atlas shaper is pretty handy, I used my little southbend to clean up the ratchet teeth on my peerless power hacksaw. The cut was a 60* and while I did not have a proper cutter for my horizontal, a few minutes at the bench grinder produced a tool which completed the job' which was cleaning up 100+ teeth, talk about slow. Most often what I use it for is cleaning up dirty metal or weldments I don't want to burn up an end mill on. I also plan to use it to make some ladder type front sights for a match rifle I have

[sprinkintime]

I need a new tool. I've been prototyping a QA/QD muzzle brake from aluminum and realized I cannot do it with what I have. I cannot correctly line up the side ports by hand. I believe that a 10-502 milling attachment for my Atlas 12x36 lathe will do what I need done.

I've looked on fleabay and it's a joke. If you can find a 502 (not the 501 for the 6 inch lathe. it's much smaller) it's either overpriced, junk, or both. Anyone know a good place to look for a good 502 for under 2 bills?

It looks like this:
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Atlas-Craftsman-10-501-Milling-Attachment-for-10-12-Lathe-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/5IsAAOxyqOxRx0Bt/$T2eC16Z,!zcE9s4g3Ic,BR)0Bt!(ww~~60_35.JPG

If you'll notice, it has four gib screws with one serving as a gib lock. The smaller one looks almost exactly like it (much smaller version) but can be IDed in a photo because it only has three gib screws.

If anyone can point me toward a good one I sure would be grateful.

Yes I do have one in almost new condition, I have never used it in 25yrs since I had a mill, but don't you think shipping will be a little high?

[Bret4207]

Yep, got one of those too. That's what I pulled the little vise off of, still not an Atlas vise though :(
Honestly, I see what the shaper can do, but not real sure what it is practaclly used for.

For a guy like me with limited space and a lot of weird projects it's amazingly handy. Cutting keyways, making odd sized key stock, broaching things, making a not so flat surface pretty darn flat, etc. There's an Amish machine shop down the road that charges peanuts that my big stuff goes to, but for the small stuff the shaper and Atlas lathe can do 95% of it.