# Atlas Horizontal Mill & Atlas 6" Lathe Parts?



## Yorkus (Dec 15, 2017)

I have recently acquired two Atlas Horizontal Mills. One was sold as a parts machine and the other as a working version. It turns out that the "working" version was not in working order and that the 2 of them are different models. One is a "MF" and the other is a "MFC". So I looked to the "parts" mill and found that I had everything I needed to put that one together, it is now in a working state after making new Arbors for it in both 7/8" and 1" sizes. I am now hoping to get the other one working as well and am looking for a few parts to complete it.

The info I am hoping for here concerns the Spindle Pulleys, The MF has 3 belt slots and the MFC only 2. The older MF 3 Slot version is broken and I am hoping to find a replacement. I called Clausing and as expected the part is no longer available. I got the Drawing for it and am toying with the idea of making one but am not very experienced at machining so not sure that is wise at this time at least. So the question I have is I understand that the earliest versions had a 4 position pulley like the 6" Lathe. Since the spindle seems very similar on the mill and the 6" lathe does anyone know if the Lathe pulley will fit the Mill?


----------



## 34_40 (Dec 15, 2017)

I am pretty sure this has been asked before and the answer was no.  A lot of the lathe parts did end up being used in the mill. 
Robert should be along and he knows so much more than I,  I have an old MF as well, it has been changed to a 2 sheeve pulley some where in it's history.  So I was getting excited when your story seemed to suggest that you might part out the ol MF.. but...  oh well.  

Would you be willing to share the file that Clausing sent you?  "We" have a good collection of mill prints and manuals, Robert maintains the archive.

When you've got some time, we'd appreciate some pics of the mills.


----------



## Dhector (Dec 15, 2017)

Ii don't know if they will fit but I have a 4 groove pulley off an Atlas 3950 sitting on my desk if you had dimensions we could compare if you like.

Edit : Well after I replied I read 34_40 post so I guess it won't work.:-(


----------



## CluelessNewB (Dec 15, 2017)

Yorkus said:


> Since the spindle seems very similar on the mill and the 6" lathe does anyone know if the Lathe pulley will fit the Mill?



I can tell you the part numbers are different, M1-79 for the mill and M6-79 for the lathe.  Many parts are interchangeable but typically they do have the same part number.


----------



## 34_40 (Dec 15, 2017)

Dhector said:


> Ii don't know if they will fit but I have a 4 groove pulley off an Atlas 3950 sitting on my desk if you had dimensions we could compare if you like.
> 
> Edit : Well after I replied I read 34_40 post so I guess it won't work.:-(



Heck, let's do the comparisons!!!  If you guys don't mind.  I'd love to be able to return mine to an original state.
If your pulley does work out to be a good fit, it would get me halfway there.


----------



## Dhector (Dec 15, 2017)

34_40 said:


> Heck, let's do the comparisons!!!  If you guys don't mind.  I'd love to be able to return mine to an original state.
> If your pulley does work out to be a good fit, it would get me halfway there.



Sure thing. Let me get some work done here and I'll start measuring after a bit!


----------



## Dhector (Dec 15, 2017)




----------



## Yorkus (Dec 15, 2017)

Attaching Clausing files to this post.

Thanks
York


----------



## Yorkus (Dec 15, 2017)

Here are a couple of photos of how they looked in the ad that I got them from.
You can see in the background the Atlas Shaper that the guy was selling as well.
Wish I could have got it too, just didn't have the space for it.
I will have to send photos of the rebuilt one when I get home, the "MF" is in parts spread out all over the garage.


----------



## 34_40 (Dec 15, 2017)

At first glance we've got apples and oranges.  Differing pulley counts.


----------



## Yorkus (Dec 15, 2017)

My understanding is that the Atlas Mill Started life with a 4 position pulley & as time went by they dropped it to 3 and then the final and longest running version was just 2 positions.
The photos that Dhector has posted don't seem to be for the Mill?
I am guessing that it is for a Lathe??


----------



## Dhector (Dec 15, 2017)

Yorkus said:


> My understanding is that the Atlas Mill Started life with a 4 position pulley & as time went by they dropped it to 3 and then the final and longest running version was just 2 positions.
> The photos that Dhector has posted don't seem to be for the Mill?
> I am guessing that it is for a Lathe??



It is for a lathe. Maybe I read it wrong. I thought that is what was being talked about or am I incorrect? Its off the 3950 atlas lathe.


----------



## wa5cab (Dec 15, 2017)

First, the pulley and gear that DHector photographed is off of the Atlas 3950 lathe and has the small spindle gear on the opposite end of the pulley from where it is on all of the Atlas mills and other lathes.  It has a Clausing style part number.  The 3950 is the Atlas replacement for the 618, which went into production in about 1973.  We don't have the drawing for the M6-79 spindle pulley & gear off of the 618 because it is still available from Clausing.

Second, background on Atlas part numbers prior to 1957.  The first or first and second character ID'd the first machine that the part was used on.

9-  9" Lathe
10-  through 10F- 10" Lathe (10 through 10F)
Ln- (where "n" is a single digit)  Mostly Craftsman 6" (101.07301) and 3/8" bed 12" plus some wood lathes.
M6-  Atlas 612 or 618 6" lathe  (why M6 and not just 6, no one alive today seems to know)
M1- Atlas mills (most parts from M1 through MHC)
MF- Atlas MF mill (MF through MFC)
MH- Atlas MH mill (MH through MHC)
S7-  Atlas shaper

Following the hyphen were one to three digits which if you know how to read it identifies the noun name of the part.  For example, "31" is a spindle, or the most significant spindle in the machine.  So 9-31 was the spindle for the 9" compound drive lathe.  10-31 was the spindle for all of the babbit bearing 10" and 12" lathes.  M1-31 the spindle in the mill.  M1-31T for all of the Timken equipped 10" and 12" lathes, etc.

With the exception of "T" for Timken and "G" for Gear, a suffix letter starting from "A" indicated a modification which may or may not have been backwards compatible.  There are half a dozen or so exceptions to the forgoing on the mills.  All of the parts having to do with the table power feed should (and originally did) begin with MF.  But a few parts instead of for example becoming MF-14A became M1-64.  Despite the fact that the Kickout is not use on any M1 model

But in short, except for a few screwups, once a part number was assigned to a part, aside from modification or the Clausing Conquest, the number never changed.  So the parts lists for the mills include a few 10-. L2-. M6- and S7- parts.

The original three mill models were M1 (hand screw driven cross feed, in-out feed and table lift), MF (power or hand screw driven cross feed) and MH (lever and rack & pinion driven cross feed and table lift).  All mills shared a common serial number pool which ran from 000001 through probably around 012500 (final number not known and this does not include the maybe 1000 or so Craftsman 101.15500 (MFC) sold by Sears).  The M1, MF and MH ran from 000200 through 001344, M1A, MFA and MHA from 001345 through 005465, M1B, MFB and MHB from 005466 through 008123, and M1C, MFC and MHC from 008124 up.  The highest number currently known is 012304.

The only two readily apparent differences between the base, A, B and C models is that the base (unlettered)  models were  16-speed machines with 4-step countershaft and spindle pulleys, A were 12-speed with three step pulleys and B and C were 8-speed with 2-step pulleys.  The apparent differences between B and C were that C had no upper cutter guard (also often missing from the earlier ones), the Arbor Support (and another part numbering mistake) was a little longer to attach an Arbor Support Bar (also often missing) and the Cross Slide Screw Bearing is about twice as long as on the B and earlier, most of that length at one diameter.  The increased length was where the lower end of the Arbor Support Bar attaches.  So if the Bar is missing, the bearing will still be there.  Note that the drawing of the bearing in all of the mill manuals that cover the C models is actually of the earlier shorter one.  

To further confuse the issue, it appears from the catalogs that Atlas didn't decide to call the A models "A models" until the B models replaced them.  They apparently never made any nameplates with an "A" on them.  Plus the older pulleys apparently went out of production shortly after each change.  So it isn't unusual to see a base model with 3 or even 2-step pulleys.  There were some other more subtle changes that may help if the nameplate (with serial number) is missing.


----------



## wa5cab (Dec 15, 2017)

Dhector,

You're not wrong but the 6" lathe pulley in question was off of the 618 or 101.21400 or 101.07301.  Their pulleys are like the mill pulleys and the 10" and 12" lathe pulleys in that the small gear for the back gear is on the small end of the pulley, whereas the pulley that you have has it on the large end.


----------



## 34_40 (Dec 15, 2017)

So the question seems to be answered???  there are lathe pulleys that could fit in a mill?


----------



## Dhector (Dec 15, 2017)

wa5cab said:


> Dhector,
> 
> You're not wrong but the 6" lathe pulley in question was off of the 618 or 101.21400 or 101.07301.  Their pulleys are like the mill pulleys and the 10" and 12" lathe pulleys in that the small gear for the back gear is on the small end of the pulley, whereas the pulley that you have has it on the large end.



So would the pulley be similar to a 12 x 36 sears and roebuck? Got one of those also. Still trying to help!!!


----------



## wa5cab (Dec 16, 2017)

Yes, but the 10" and 12" step pulleys are larger than the mill and 6".  So not useful in the current context.  I don't know exactly what the differences are between the one on the 6" and the one on the M1, MF  and MH but there must be something different else the part numbers wouldn't be different.


----------



## 34_40 (Dec 16, 2017)

And I was just thinking there needs to be two, the driver and the driven. 
And the drivebelt must be very small on the 4 speed setup,  if the countershaft support on mine is any indicator, using the 2 sheeve pulleys, with the original 4 sheeve pulley mount makes speed changes a nightmare.  There just isn't room for the bigger belt to move.


----------



## CluelessNewB (Dec 16, 2017)

Yes the 4 step uses a much narrower belt than the 2 step.


----------



## wa5cab (Dec 16, 2017)

The spindle and motor belts on the M1/MF/MH and M1A/MFA/MHA are 3L (nominal 3/8 width and I don't have the length).  The spindle and motor belts on the M1B/MFB/MHB and the M1C/MFC/MHC are 5L (nominal 5/8" width and I don't have the length).  If changing from a 4- or 3-step pulley setup to a 2-step, you should change the entire countershaft assembly except for the knob, handle and hub, most of the belt guard assembly,  and the motor pulley.  For example, the original motor pulley was M6-428.  The later one on the B and C models is 10-428.


----------



## VSAncona (Jan 4, 2018)

wa5cab said:


> The apparent differences between B and C were that C had no upper cutter guard (also often missing from the earlier ones), the Arbor Support (and another part numbering mistake) was a little longer to attach an Arbor Support Bar (also often missing) and the Cross Slide Screw Bearing is about twice as long as on the B and earlier, most of that length at one diameter.



This is just a footnote to the above that will only be of interest to the most anal-retentive of Atlas fans, but at least some of the early MFCs were still being shipped with the upper cutter guard. My MFC is serial number 8146 and has the guard. I've also seen photos of one other MFC that was close in serial number to mine that also had the guard. My guess is that Atlas was just using up their existing parts inventory. Since you can't actually use the upper cutter guard with the arbor support in place, most of the time my guard just sits in a drawer.


----------



## T. J. (Jan 4, 2018)

I'm a little late to the conversation, but if it helps anybody, I have extra M6-79 and M6-80 pulleys that I can measure.


----------



## Wrsjorel (Jan 22, 2022)

T. J. said:


> I'm a little late to the conversation, but if it helps anybody, I have extra M6-79 and M6-80 pulleys that I can measure.


Hello, could you still get the measurements from these pulleys? My Atlas mill is missing these and may have to try and make them. Thanks for any help


----------



## wa5cab (Jan 22, 2022)

Wrsjorel,

There were four Atlas mill revisions (base, A, B and C) times three different types (M1, MF and MH) for a total of 12 different mills.  The M6-79 and M6-80 are four-groove spindle and countershaft pulleys that were originally used on the Atlas 618 and Craftsman 101.07301 and 101.21400 6" lathes.  They were also used on the three base mill models (M1, MF and MH).  No one seems to know why Atlas chose to use "M6" as the cimm prefix for most of the 6" lathe parts (instead of for example "L6" 2 or 3 years before they decided to build the horizontal mills.

Anyway, the 4-groove pulleys were only used on 3 of the 12 mill models.  And you did not say what your mill model was.  And ti add further confusion, the 3-Groove "A" models never got the "A" on their nameplates.  The only way to ID a Rev A mill is from the serial number or if it has 3-groove pulleys.


----------



## Wrsjorel (Jan 22, 2022)

wa5cab said:


> Wrsjorel,
> 
> There were four Atlas mill revisions (base, A, B and C) times three different types (M1, MF and MH) for a total of 12 different mills.  The M6-79 and M6-80 are four-groove spindle and countershaft pulleys that were originally used on the Atlas 618 and Craftsman 101.07301 and 101.21400 6" lathes.  They were also used on the three base mill models (M1, MF and MH).  No one seems to know why Atlas chose to use "M6" as the cimm prefix for most of the 6" lathe parts (instead of for example "L6" 2 or 3 years before they decided to build the horizontal mills.
> 
> Anyway, the 4-groove pulleys were only used on 3 of the 12 mill models.  And you did not say what your mill model was.  And ti add further confusion, the 3-Groove "A" models never got the "A" on their nameplates.  The only way to ID a Rev A mill is from the serial number or if it has 3-groove pulleys.


Thanks for the reply,my mill doesn’t have any tags , but it has a 3 groove pulley in the head . I’m missing the motor mount and pulleys  also the table is manual feed,left and right ,up and down.


----------



## wa5cab (Jan 22, 2022)

OK.  Wjth a 3-groove spindle pulley and without power feed, it is an M1A.


----------



## T. J. (Jan 23, 2022)

Wrsjorel said:


> Hello, could you still get the measurements from these pulleys? My Atlas mill is missing these and may have to try and make them. Thanks for any help


Sorry, I have since sold all my spare Atlas/Craftsman parts, so I no longer have them. Hopefully someone else will chime in with some measurements for you.


----------



## Wrsjorel (Jan 24, 2022)

T. J. said:


> Sorry, I have since sold all my spare Atlas/Craftsman parts, so I no longer have them. Hopefully someone else will chime in with some measurements for you.


Thanks for your reply


----------



## wa5cab (Jan 25, 2022)

@Wrsjorel , you might try calling Clausing.  If they still have the parts in stock, they won't but if they don't have any on hand and have declared them as obsolete, they will probably send you the drawing(s).  If they do send you something,  please forward the file(s) to me and I will clean them up and out them into Downloads.


----------



## wa5cab (Jan 25, 2022)

Correction - we DO have the 2-step and the 3-step spindle and countershaft pulley drawings as well as the drawing for the modification to the small spindle back gear.  But we do not have the drawings for the 4-step which have a part number beginning with M6- because they started life as parts for the various early 6" lathes.


----------



## Wrsjorel (Jan 25, 2022)

wa5cab said:


> Correction - we DO have the 2-step and the 3-step spindle and countershaft pulley drawings as well as the drawing for the modification to the small spindle back gear.  But we do not have the drawings for the 4-step which have a part number beginning with M6- because they started life as parts for the various early 6" lathes.


How does one get these drawings?


----------



## wa5cab (Jan 29, 2022)

As best I can tell (by logging in as one of my alter ego's that happens to be a non-donor, none donors can see Downloads and the file names that are there but cannot actually open a file or download a file.  So that is still working as it has been for several years.  Full access to Downloads requires the member to have Donor status (any level).  So the short answer to your question is that you must make a donation.  And then wait until one of the Admins has processed it.  I will add that we used to also accept checks and MO;s but that turned out to be a bunch of trouble as the Admin with access to the checking account and the Admin who otherwise processed the donation are two different people.  Plus it required a physical trip to the bank, etc.  Anyway, making a donation requires having a PayPal account.


----------

