Atlas Mill (MFA) gearbox rebuild

[dockterj]

I'm finally making progress getting my mill back together. I just finished redoing the gearbox (MF-1).

Mine was pretty bad, I ended up replacing bushing MF-158 and bearing MF-68. In order to replace MF-68 I had to remove the sliding gear shaft (MF-20) from the MF-18 gear. I drilled out the back a bit to relieve the peening, made a quick "fork" to support the gear and beat away with a punch and it popped right out.

My initial plan was to drill and thread the shaft for a retaining screw but the shaft and gear retained enough of a press fit that I am going to leave them as is. If they loosen up I can always modify for the retaining screw.

I was able to piece together hardware store bushings for replacement parts. MF-158 was a bit tight and I did have to ream it to size after installation. I drilled the cross hole for the spring and ball after installation (I suspect this was the factory process as well) and that ended up being a non-event. The fit of MF-63 was a bit on the loose side for my taste; if that ends up being a problem I'll have to machine a custom bushing.

I'm just waiting on some corn head grease (thixotropic grease) before final assembly.

I didn't take any pictures of the process but I did want to document here that it is possible to replace MF-158 without too much trouble (hey - if I can do it, anyone can do it). It seems to run smoothly now, shifts in and out of gear smoothly and the drive gear lines up much better with the slot for the table screw.

 

[markba633csi]

Sounds like a great fix and repair; of course you do owe us some future pictures when you make some chips with that beast
Corn head grease? Is that a regional delicacy?
-Mark (the other one)

 

[34_40]

I'll have to break out my manual to look up those numbers.. LOL , and no pics? LOL..
Sounds like the repair went well anyway. Corn head grease, was that called out specifically? Some guys use that same grease in their gearboxes on the cub cadets snow throwers. Others use a mix of gear oil and # 2 grease.

 

[dockterj]

I didn't take any pictures but when I do the final assembly I'll take some. I put the part numbers in so someone searching on how to remove that shaft should be able to find this thread.

I don't know what was called out originally for grease. Corn head grease becomes thinner when stirred up but thickens so it doesn't weep out of all of the gaps and holes in this gearbox. I use it on my the right angle gearbox on my snow thrower as well.

Just ran into another potential problem with the spindle pulley that I am working to resolve. I'll probably make a new thread for that.

 

[34_40]

Pics do seem to help when explaining what was done. I usually type just like I think so my posts are always all over the place... Sorry to learn of another problem. Hope it's a minor issue and quickly dealt with.