# Picked up an Atlas MF Horizontal Mill today



## jmhoying (Oct 6, 2014)

My uncle had this Atlas MF horizontal mill covered up in his heated garage for many years. He finally agreed to sell it to me today. Everything seems to work fine on it, and I believe it has had very little use.  Only real issue is that it has a 7/8" arbor, so tooling is a bit more difficult to find than if it was 1".  I see that someone is selling 1" arbors on eBay for about $100.00 shipped.
  The MF wasn't sold with belt guards (the MF-G had guards)
  The serial number is 004202.  I'm not sure what year this would of been made.

I do some larger machine work at times, so I'll have to decide if the Atlas is going to fit my needs, or if I'd be better off with a more commercial size machine.













I clamped in a piece of aluminum tonight and just used the speed settings as there were from the last time it was used.  This is a .500 wide x .020 deep cut.
[video=youtube_share;BRn5UNsrEwY]http://youtu.be/BRn5UNsrEwY[/video]

Jack
Fort Loramie, Ohio


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## furnace3 (Oct 6, 2014)

WOW! For a small mill, that is a gorgeous machine! Wish I had an uncle with one of those sitting around. )


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## Andre (Oct 6, 2014)

Looks good, see if you can find a drawing or pick of the over ram support. It's needed on a machine this small.


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## JimDawson (Oct 7, 2014)

What a beautiful machine.  :thumbsup2:


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## Earl (Oct 7, 2014)

jmhoying said:


> My uncle had this Atlas MF horizontal mill covered up in his heated garage for many years. He finally agreed to sell it to me today. Everything seems to work fine on it, and I believe it has had very little use.  Only real issue is that it has a 7/8" arbor, so tooling is a bit more difficult to find than if it was 1".  I see that someone is selling 1" arbors on eBay for about $100.00 shipped.
> The MF wasn't sold with belt guards (the MF-G had guards)
> The serial number is 004202.  I'm not sure what year this would of been made.
> 
> ...


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## jmhoying (Oct 7, 2014)

Earl said:


> jmhoying said:
> 
> 
> > My uncle had this Atlas MF horizontal mill covered up in his heated garage for many years. He finally agreed to sell it to me today. Everything seems to work fine on it, and I believe it has had very little use.  Only real issue is that it has a 7/8" arbor, so tooling is a bit more difficult to find than if it was 1".  I see that someone is selling 1" arbors on eBay for about $100.00 shipped.
> ...


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## Ulma Doctor (Oct 7, 2014)

nice machine!!!

i love mine,
i hope you have as much fun with yours as i do with mine.


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## b.dygger (Oct 7, 2014)

That is an awesome looking machine!  I also purchased an Atlas Milling Machine yesterday (10/6/14) but mine is in rough shape, broken and missing parts. Looking at the pictures of yours I just realized the arbor support for mine is mining! 
Best regards.
Bill



jmhoying said:


> My uncle had this Atlas MF horizontal mill covered up in his heated garage for many years. He finally agreed to sell it to me today. Everything seems to work fine on it, and I believe it has had very little use.  Only real issue is that it has a 7/8" arbor, so tooling is a bit more difficult to find than if it was 1".  I see that someone is selling 1" arbors on eBay for about $100.00 shipped.
> The MF wasn't sold with belt guards (the MF-G had guards)
> The serial number is 004202.  I'm not sure what year this would of been made.
> 
> ...


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## Earl (Oct 7, 2014)

Here are some pics of the Mill with the overarm support, vise, knock out bar and the little "back gear pin popper"


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## jmhoying (Oct 7, 2014)

Earl said:


> Here are some pics of the Mill with the overarm support, vise, knock out bar and the little "back gear pin popper"



Thanks a lot for the photos.  It sure looks like the arbor on yours (and most all the others I've seen) is a little shorter than mine, which would allow the overarm support arm to work (align vertically).
I made a pin wrench tonight similar to yours (to hold the arbor while tightening/loosening the arbor nut)
I was working on figuring out the back gear pin tonight.  I finally figured out that it aligns with the setscrew in the gear, but does that setscrew have to be backed out or is it just for the gear itself?
Thanks again,
Jack


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## Earl (Oct 8, 2014)

I really dont know about the set screw.  I have never had to loosen it.  That pin just pops out about an eighth inco or so.  To put it back in I just posh on it with my finger while rotating the pulley by hand until it goes in the hole.  
As close as I can measure without disassembling my current setup,  my 7/8 arbor measures just a tad under 8 inches from thedrive dog to the end of the threads.   That is not counting the part of the arbor that goes thru the front support bracket.


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## Earl (Oct 8, 2014)

Did i mention that i hate typing on a tablet?


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## wa5cab (Oct 8, 2014)

Jack,

FWIW, your machine is an MFA.  The actual MF had 4-step spindle and countershaft pulleys.  The MFA had 3-step.  And the MFB and MFC had 2-step.  For whatever reason, Atlas didn't decide to call it an MFA until they came out with the MFB.  I have an MFA that is about 1000 serial numbers older than yours.

You will find (should find) a cleaned up parts list for all four models in Downloads, along with an MFC manual.  Download both, as the MFC manual includes some operating instructions which weren't in the copy of the later manual that went back and picked up the early models.  I have been unable to turn up an actual MF or MFA manual.  Earliest found is one for the MFB.  The latest (parts only) manual on all four does give the serial number breaks between models.  MFA is 001345-005465.

To add to what Earl wrote, the MFA also didn't ship with belt guard.  Those became standard with the MFB.

The approximate years of manufacture of the MFA are 1942-44.  This is based on catalogs and is a rough guess based on 1940, 43 and 45 catalogs.  None dated 1941, 42 or 44 have turned up.


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## jmhoying (Oct 8, 2014)

Earl said:


> I really dont know about the set screw.  I have never had to loosen it.  That pin just pops out about an eighth inco or so.  To put it back in I just posh on it with my finger while rotating the pulley by hand until it goes in the hole.
> As close as I can measure without disassembling my current setup,  my 7/8 arbor measures just a tad under 8 inches from thedrive dog to the end of the threads.   That is not counting the part of the arbor that goes thru the front support bracket.



Good to know that the back-gear pin only has to move 1/8" or so.  I had in my mind that something was wrong and it should move farther. (surprised that I didn't try some extra force and break something!)
  My 7/8" arbor measures just over 8", so they are basically the same.   Here's another photo that shows the 2" offset from the front of the knee to the face of the arbor support.  Is this different in B and C models?  If not, how can they get any rigidity from the arbor support arm?
Jack


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## jmhoying (Oct 8, 2014)

wa5cab said:


> Jack,
> 
> FWIW, your machine is an MFA.  The actual MF had 4-step spindle and countershaft pulleys.  The MFA had 3-step.  And the MFB and MFC had 2-step.  For whatever reason, Atlas didn't decide to call it an MFA until they came out with the MFB.  I have an MFA that is about 1000 serial numbers older than yours.
> 
> ...



Thanks for all the information.  This sort of mill would not of had a high priority in the war years!  Sort of amazing how nice this mill looks for being 70 years old! 

I'm attaching another photo that shows the markings on the casting, just above the ID plate.  
Thanks again,
Jack


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## furnace3 (Oct 8, 2014)

I was flipping thru the bay-com.com website just now and it turns out there's an instructional DVD for these mills. Which reminded me of this thread. Not sure if this is of use to anyone, but I'll post the link here in case it is:

http://bay-com.com/pid/72/machining_machine_lathe_milling_machine_lathe_operator_grinding.html


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## wa5cab (Oct 8, 2014)

Jack,

The MFB has the same arbor support as the earlier models.  There are other differences but in regard to the arbor support and outboard support bar, besides the bar (added) and the support (modified), the cross feed screw and bearing are both longer (as near as I can tell measuring with just a tape, exactly 1" longer).  The early bearing is the same as the one for the knee lift hand wheel, and is slightly tapered.  In the MMB-5 parts manual, the drawing makes it still look the same but in fact about 1-1/2" of it is straight 1" dia. round, with a wider hex up against the knee.  The support bar has a saddle bar across the bottom that attaches the bar to the new bearing.  My MFC parts unit is missing the support but it may be a little thinner than the one on the MF through MHB.


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## Earl (Oct 8, 2014)

furnace3 said:


> I was flipping thru the bay-com.com website just now and it turns out there's an instructional DVD for these mills. Which reminded me of this thread. Not sure if this is of use to anyone, but I'll post the link here in case it is:
> 
> http://bay-com.com/pid/72/machining_machine_lathe_milling_machine_lathe_operator_grinding.html




I tried for a couple of years to get my hands on Rudy's video. Nobody had it. Not even the rental places.   Even Bay Com was out of it.   I will try them again.   thanks


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