Considering Altas MF Mill Purchase

David Pollard

David Pollard

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Hi Guys,
I found one of these on "The Bay" and I'm looking for opinions from people who have used them or something similar in the past.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181301489686&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:AU:1123

I was never big on horizontal Mills in my Fitter and Turner days we used to use vertical mills most of the time.
I guess nothing you couldn't work around with some imagination and an angle plate.

The guy tells me the model is an MF.
He also tells me that it is 240V single phase which suits me.
It has no tooling apart from the cutter currently on the arbour.

It is a fair way from home so I can't go and look at it before I purchase.

Does anyone know where I can find a manual on line. That way I can look up more details.

Thanks for any comments

David
 
David,

It appears to be in good condition. Nice paint. However, given the age it's probably been repainted. And it's hard to tell whether it just had a fresh coat of paint slapped on it or was done properly.

The nameplate says MF. The serial number says MFA. I'm not through with my research yet, and the freight company that appears to be holding my similar machine hostage isn't helping any. But my conclusion so far is that Atlas assigned the MFA nomenclature only after they decided to come out with the MFB. So all MFA's may have MF nameplates.

Atlas came out with a parts manual in 1962 that covers MF through MFC. The manual isn't in the Downloads section yet but we (I) will fix that as we get farther into restoring Downloads. In the meantime, go to Downloads/Atlas.../Atlas Mills and download the one mill manual that's there. The major differece between the models is the number of spindle speeds, as follows:

MF/M1/MH 16-speed
MFA/M1A/MHA 12-speed
MFB/M1B/MHB 8-speed
MFC/M1C/MHC 8-speed plus additional arbor support.

Looking at the photos that the seller has posted, it appears that the countershaft cone pulley isn't original. It should be a 3-step but as best I can see is two 2-step. He doesn't show a photo of the spindle pulley.

I don't know the current exchange rate between US$ and A$ and have no idea what MF*'s go for in Australia. On the plus side, it has the belt guards, which at least up here is moderately rare. And it still has the overarm guard which is even less common here.

I'll also comment that unlike the lathes, at least in the US is is fairly uncommon for Atlas mills to turn up with much in the way of accessories or cutters.

Final comment tonight is that the stand it is on is shop made, not original. It looks pretty well made but lacks the drip pan.

Robert D.
 
chuckorlando said:
Is this it? http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=4646
Click to expand...

From what Wa5cab says it's close.
My understanding now is MF = MFA (mostly)

The above manual is for a MFC so it's two models later on.
David

- - - Updated - - -

BTW The Australian dollar hovers above and below one to one with the US dollar.
Currently one Australian dollar buys about 92 US cents.

I haven't seen any Atlas Lathes in Australia over the last 6 months (since I have been looking) so I can't guess what they normally sell for
I'm mainly interested in an Atlas because it will look nice in my shed next to my Atlas Lathe :)
 
I just bought a similar one (MFC model) a couple of weeks ago. Thread here -- http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/19962-My-new-Atlas-Milling-Machine

I'm still getting mine cleaned up, so I can't comment on how well it works. But looking at the photos for the one you are considering, I notice that there's no vise included. The original vises seem to go for quite a bit, so you might want to take that into consideration. Also, the cover on the overarm doesn't look like an original Atlas, so I wouldn't get too excited over that.

The main difference between the one you're looking at the later models is the later ones had an arbor support bar. Apparently it makes a pretty big difference in preventing chatter and improving the quality of cut.

Edit to add: In looking at the pictures closer, it looks like there's something funky with the left-hand feed wheel on the table. It looks like some sort of modification. Also, in that last photo of the cutter, is that rust on the arbor, overbar, and table?

It's always a challenge to evaluate a machine without being able to see it in person.
 
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Hi VSAncona,
Thanks for the detailed response, all good observations.
I also spotted the rust. Doesn't look too serious but something else to deal with.

It has probably been a lot of years with no use.
I is looking a bit expensive to me. I might wait and see if anyone at all bids on it.
life not Ill make him an offer after the auction. Deepens how much he wants to get rid of it I guess.

How does the extra support work on the later models?
i wonder if I could add something myself later on.

David

Edit
i see The support bracket on nine4gmc's machine.
(nice workshop btw)
 
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If your looking at an auction, I would tell you to never, ever bid till the last 60 seconds. All you do is drive the price up bidding any sooner. In fact I wait till about 20 seconds left and bid my low and set auto bid for my high. I never show my hand with more then 60 seconds. I aim for 15-20 seconds in the hopes that my auto bid and short time leaves little room to out bid me.
 
David,

The link that Chuckorlando posted is to the 1962 MMB-5 that I referring to earlier. If you go to file pages 16 & 17 (manual pages 9 & 10) you will see that if gives S/N 1345-5465 as the range for the MFA. MMB-5 is the only one I've turned up that covers the MF or MFA.

I've seen photos of several nameplates in the lower part of this range that all had the 3-step (12-speed) pulleys. I've also seen photos of #902 that has the 3-step pulleys. My only guess there is that it is a Frankenmill.

If the mill were up here, I would say that despite the apparent nice paint job, $1200 (or 92% of that) is high for just the bare mill. However, as I've said before even up here in the US what's considered an acceptable price for any of the Atlas machines varies widely depending upon location. I recently bought from near Detroit (but haven't yet received) an MF/MFA for $750. It included the horizontal indexer. And an incomplete MFC for $700 that included the original factory steel stand and drip pan.

Robert D.
 
I agree with Robert that the price seems pretty high for the U.S., but maybe where you are it's not out of line? I paid about the same as Robert did for my MFC and a few people here commented that I spent too much. But I'm happy with my purchase so that's all that really matters in my book.

One thing that I've read on several other forums is that you can get a lot more mill for the same or less money than you would spend on an Atlas. The Atlas machines seem to go for a premium simply because they are small and easy to move into a basement or home shop.
 
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