# Atlas mill vertical spindle project



## ogberi (Dec 25, 2014)

Hi All, 

Of all days to get some shop time!  Woohoo!!!

Which suits me fine, as I was jolted out of a sound sleep by an idea.  Haven't decided if I hate or love when that happens. 

I remembered the piece of scrap I had in mind for the power feed on my lathe, and when that recollection collided with another memory, my eyes popped open and I dictated a slightly slurred memo into my phone at 4:28 AM. (we sat up playing cards and enjoying various libations till the wee hours with the family last night....)

In short, I'm re-starting my project to add a vertical spindle to my Atlas horizontal mill.  I have a spare Taig spindle on-hand, so I figured it was time to get started on it. 



I didn't even have to dig in the scrap bin for the big piece.  It was right on top.  So, I used the chop saw (carefully!) to cut a suitably sized chunk off.  It used to be an old hydraulic distribution block for something.  Now it's going to be the head assembly for a vertical spindle. Its 3" square, about 5 3/4" long or so. 



Getting ready to square up the ends with the horizontal mill.  For being such a small machine, this thing just plows through metal. 



Aaaand, a whole lotta handwheel cranking later - both ends are clean and square. 



Because there's a hole down the middle of the workpiece, I'll have a plate between the mill's headstock and the vertical spindle head housing.  They'll be joined together with four SHCS, and a rather large bolt will secure the plate to the headstock through the hole used by the overarm support bar.  Here I've cut a piece of 3" wide flat stock, and turned a slight boss on it to locate it in the overarm support hole. 



That's as far as I've gotten this afternoon.  

I'll give the purists fair warning:  If you're squeamish about defiling great old equipment, you may not want to follow this thread. 

One of the steps I'll have to do is milling the face of the headstock around the overarm support bar's hole.  As-is, it has draft from the pattern when cast.  Rather than trying to shim all of that out, I'd rather cut it flat and square to the table.  It'd be more stable, and provide a good, flat surface to mount the plate to.  Some will feel that I'm wrecking the machine, I'm sure.  And rest assured I cringe at the thought myself.  But, it won't affect how the machine operates, only how it looks.  I won't be hogging off a quarter inch of metal, only enough to get a flat, true surface square to the table.  

Why?  Because I can't afford a vertical mill right now.  Adding even light vertical milling capability to the Atlas greatly expands it's usefulness, and aside from the light cut to get a flat mounting surface, I'm not modifying the machine for this.  For heavy, hogging cuts, I'll use the horizontal spindle.  For small, light projects, the vertical head. 

For those that don't feel that I'm trashing my machine, please feel free to follow along.

- Edit - 
Now you all can see what I look like.  Not sure if that's good, or bad.....
http://youtu.be/iNV1t45YySU


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## Dave Smith (Dec 25, 2014)

ogberi said:


> Hi All,
> 
> .
> 
> ...






I have always felt comfortable in making desired updates and improvements on machines that I own and want to make my changes---now if I had just bought the machine to clean up and resell-- it may be different----however-- materials I have on hand and Improvement for my own use will be used to make the machine handier for me----I also have an Atlas horizontal mill and my plans are to make a nice vertical head spindle for it----OH !! the improvements for all my machines are spinning constantly in my head all the time----I have two engraver machines that will be the pride of my shop when I get them all modified to my benefit---they will not be engravers when I get through with them but will be very versatile for many functions--pictures will be here when they are completed-----I have many spindles to choose from for the Atlas mill and it depends on which small collet set I want to use before I pick the spindle------using my many resources is part of my planning on the size and capabilities of what I want to build, so I don't draw up plans on paper--just in my head--and they can change all along the process-------so I will be glad to follow your vertical head improvement without any concerns----Dave-------------------------------*note----it is kind of strange that the person that values a machine to be non modified and just the way it was made----never seems to want to pay premium for one that is in that condition when they want to buy it !!


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## ogberi (Jan 1, 2015)

Just realized - the date on my camera is wrong.  I'll fix that. 

I wasn't happy with the mounting plate. By the time I countersunk it for the screws, it had far too little meat for my taste. 

So, I hacked up some more scrap, and put the tangential tool to work facing it off smooth. 



I'll admit, I screwed up on the spindle housing.  I lost track of handwheel revolutions, and instead of starting over (edge-finding the workpiece, cranking over, etc), I put a mounting hole in the wrong place. :/  It bothered me, so I instead drilled the other end of the stock. The outward facing end will have a plate over it, so my mistake won't be seen.  

The new mounting plate, and correctly drilled holes. I clamped the mounting plate to the spindle housing, and spotted, drilled, clearance drilled, then countersunk the holes, and started the tap.  I did all those steps per hole, to ensure alignment. 



It fits dang nice. The overhang will get milled off, and all the long sides flycut. Speaking of which...




On Monday, I received the two arbors I'd ordered.  One is an MT2 to 3/8x24, so I can use a regular threaded drill chuck vs the MT2 mounted chuck out of my drill press.  It works, but takes up a *lot* of room.  The other arbor is an MT2 to 3/4x16 (Taig), so I can use my Taig tooling on the mill.  Loving it. 

I had to make a fly cutter, so I grabbed a blank Taig arbor and set to work.  I'd forgotten that I have the rotating table for the Atlas.  It was in the bottom of a Tote, so I grabbed it and got to work.  Excuse the surface rust, it'll get taken apart, cleaned, and re-assembled this weekend.  It looks *much* worse in the photo than it actually is.  The Taig arbors are 1" diameter, 12L14 steel, and machine like *butter*.  



After experimenting a bit with grinding the tool, I managed to get a decent finish on a piece of scrap with the fly cutter. 
It'll handle about 3" wide in one pass. I need to refine the tool a bit, and figure out the best angle.  At the moment, the surface it leaves is smooth to the touch, and you can barely hear a fingernail "zip" on it. I got my greasy fingers on it, hence the smudges in the photo. 



I need to find a suitable piece of scrap in my bin for the next tool I have to make.   

Stay tuned, more to come.


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