# 1955 Atlas Horizontal Milling Machine Model MFC Serial # 011909



## Ulma Doctor (Jul 12, 2014)

I just keep finding the old machines!!!!!
i 'm just on a roll !!!
searching earlier in the week i saw an ad on CL for an atlas horizontal mill
i replied to the add and offered a little less than asking price and he accepted!!!
she's in pretty good shape a little cracking of the Zamak handles is evident.
she runs really quietly and operates smoothly under power.
the knee is surprisingly smooth and rigid for a little mill.
i know i'm going to have a blast getting to know her!!!

may i introduce you to Gertrude, my first horizontal mill.

she came with all kinds of cool stuff including a couple more than a dozen cutters and an original Atlas catalog no. M52 and a price sheet from August 1955 when the mill was originally purchased, i'm the second owner.

My mill sold originally in 1955 for $466.70!! some pictures for the interested!


thanks for reading, i welcome questions and comments!







an original 1955 Atlas Toolstand came with the unit!!!!!


























Thanks for reading


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## Don B (Jul 12, 2014)

Nice find... Congratulations.......!)


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## kd4gij (Jul 12, 2014)

Great find.:man: I never find things like that around here.:angry:


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## 34_40 (Jul 13, 2014)

SAH...  WEET!  Looks like it's in nice shape!  And lotsa tooling.  Love the base, wish mine had something like that to mount to..

Congrats!


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## Tool-in-the-Box (Jul 13, 2014)

Very nice but not surprising, the A-team can find anything!

On a side note the vise looks like the Huron Milling Attachment vise. -J


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## Ulma Doctor (Jul 13, 2014)

Tool-in-the-Box said:


> Very nice but not surprising, the A-team can find anything!
> 
> On a side note the vise looks like the Huron Milling Attachment vise. -J




Thanks Tool-in-the-Box,
i was wondering the manufacturer of the vice.

i have been looking for either a south bend or an atlas mill for over a year.
i found a couple that were way to trashed to consider and let them go.
patience did pay off once again, i found one that didn't appear trashed.
after talking to the owner i was convinced that i had to have it.
we struck a deal and baddabing!!!

i feel like i need to make an offering to Hephaestus for granting me three wishes in the last 30 days.
(2 lathes,both are old but both are nearly unused, and 1 horizontal mill also nearly new)
:lmao:


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## VSAncona (Jul 14, 2014)

Wow, that's definitely a keeper! Thanks for posting the photos.

It's amazing how much these machines sold for when they were new. That was a lot of money in 1955.


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## Ulma Doctor (Jul 16, 2014)

for those interested i have scanned some pages pertaining to the Atlas Horizontal Mill for catalog # M52
showing specifications,attachments and accessories
enjoy!










thanks for reading!!


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## Tool-in-the-Box (Jul 17, 2014)

Your welcome. If I remember right the Huron Milling attachment was sold in kit form. 

On a side note, I got one of these mills (same condition as yours) for my father. It actually had the complete automatic coolant attachment in the brochure you posted. Never seen one before finding it. Anyway, he loves the machine, I am sure you will enjoy it. -J


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## Earl (Aug 17, 2014)

I have one of those too!  Same  cabinet and all.  I added a shelf and doors to the cabinet. I have the original vise, drawbar,  and outboard overarm support.  That extra overarm support really makes a big difference in the rigidity of the machine.  Isuggest that you make one for your mill.   When those things appear on ebay they run 250 -275!

Same pricing for the original vise.  Looking at the pictures, i could not tell if the power feed kick out piece is there or not.  That piece is hard to come by.  If you dont have that piece,  I can take a picture of it for you.
I also have 7/8 and 1" mandrels.  The one inch cutters seem to be more plentiful.  

The spindle is MT2.  I have a mt2 holder for half inch and three quarter slitting saws.  They work ok for very light cuts but i use my larger vertical for anything serious.

Dont overlook the fact that the little mill has a back gear.  You need a tool (piece of flat stock 50 thou or so thick, ahalf inch wide and about 6 inches long - with a 45 degree bend about 1 inch fom the end) to reach in on the right side of the spindle to pull the pin. You cannot see it easily.

Good luck with the little mill.    I love mine


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## Bishop (Aug 17, 2014)

Looks almost new, great score. 
Shawn


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## Ulma Doctor (Aug 17, 2014)

Earl said:


> I have one of those too!  Same  cabinet and all.  I added a shelf and doors to the cabinet. I have the original vise, drawbar,  and outboard overarm support.  That extra overarm support really makes a big difference in the rigidity of the machine.  Isuggest that you make one for your mill.   When those things appear on ebay they run 250 -275!
> 
> Same pricing for the original vise.  Looking at the pictures, i could not tell if the power feed kick out piece is there or not.  That piece is hard to come by.  If you dont have that piece,  I can take a picture of it for you.
> I also have 7/8 and 1" mandrels.  The one inch cutters seem to be more plentiful.
> ...



Thanks Earl,
i have one of the Kick out pieces. i have it on the left side of the table.
i'm not going to be climb milling with this machine so a single kick out would probably not be a hindrance.
i only have a 7/8 arbor for the machine, but i'm looking to get a 1" for versatility and ease of finding cutters.
i have a MT2 endmill holder for the machine as well as a MT2 collet set i could use for holding tooling too.  
I have tested the back gearing, (thanks for the pin tool suggestion) and have already completed a project. 
 for those interested click the link below...

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php?t=24312


Thanks Earl for commenting, i'm already having a lot of fun with Gertrude and look forward to making the overarm support.
i'll write that up in another thread...

Thanks for reading.


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## Earl (Aug 17, 2014)

Climb milling is a no no on this machine.  I tried it successfully doin light cuts.   Finish was great.   A little deeper and  wham bam slam!   Luckily i didnt break anything. The table jumped all over the place.   I am now a beleiver.


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## Earl (Aug 19, 2014)

I was working at my day job and it hit me!!!  You picked the wrong name for  the little mill.  You should have named her Millie!!!


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## Gary Ayres (Sep 2, 2014)

Very cool machine, with lots of lovely tooling.

O for a world where we have all the time, money and space we need and an inexhaustible supply of fine vintage milling machine at ridiculously low prices!

)


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## John Hasler (Sep 2, 2014)

Gary Ayres said:


> Very cool machine, with lots of lovely tooling.
> 
> O for a world where we have all the time, money and space we need and an inexhaustible supply of fine vintage milling machine at ridiculously low prices!
> 
> )



Don't you think that would be kind of boring?


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## Ulma Doctor (Sep 2, 2014)

an inexhaustible supply of old equipment sounds like Valhalla to me, 
especially, if the machines all had imperfections and broken parts that required attention in order to operate again!!!


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## Mister Ed (Sep 2, 2014)

That thing is beautiful!!!

Now that I have a shaper ... I think I just decided what to look for next.)


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## Ulma Doctor (Sep 2, 2014)

Thank you Very Much Mr. Ed!!!!

she purrs like a kitten. 
it's a real pleasure to see and hear this lil mill work.
i used it the other day in horizontal mode with and endmill to flatten a angled cast iron surface on my vertical beltsander's rest.
the rest would come out of square when you'd tighten the hold down bolt when setting the rest's angle.
so i made the surface flat and no more problem!!!


thanks for commenting, i'm glad you like my lil Gertrude


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## Gary Ayres (Sep 3, 2014)

John - it wouldn't be boring as long as we *also* had an inexhaustible supply of wine, women, song..... etc....

There you go - a machinist's Valhalla )


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## wa5cab (Sep 3, 2014)

Mike,

Did the OO tell you why it didn't have the MFC's additional arbor support?

Robert D.


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## Ulma Doctor (Sep 3, 2014)

to be honest with you, i did not know it had overarm support until i saw it for the first time in the catalog that came with the mill.
so the question didn't come up due to my ignorance.

from the pictures it looks simple enough to construct.
i haven't really noticed a lot of arbor flex, but then again i'm not taking better than .025" cuts anyway mostly on cast iron and HRS.
i haven't tried to mill any harder materials, i'm sure the overarm support would show it's value better there.


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## wa5cab (Sep 4, 2014)

OK.  Hopefully your machine still has the modified MFC arbor support that connects the overarm to the arbor.  It is different from the one on the earlier machines.  I just uploaded a drawing for the auxiliary support bar.  It also requires modification to the table front-to-back feed screw, which hopefully your machine still has.  See MMB-5 for the differences.

Robert D.


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## Ulma Doctor (Sep 4, 2014)

it appears that the mill has the overarm that does bolt to the aux support.
there are 2   5/16" or maybe 3/8" tapped holes in the overarm support for attachment of the aux support.
it looks like it was made for a support, the protrusion of the table feedscrew housing is pretty long, just waiting for an aux support!!
thanks for the PDF!!!


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## wa5cab (Sep 4, 2014)

You're welcome.  If you find two, I'm looking for one.  I have a 12-speed MFA and an MFC parts unit.  Which didn't have the aux support bar.

Robert D.


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## Ulma Doctor (Sep 4, 2014)

i'll be on the hunt for one, but might try my hand at making a copy from the PDF you posted!!!
but if i should find one you'll be the second to know!
thanks again Robert!!!


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## jmhoying (Oct 4, 2014)

That's a very nice machine.  I will be taking possession of an identical model this coming week, although mine is on a cart, not a stand.  I'll post some photos once I have it at home and figure out exactly what I have with it (or don't have)

Jack
Fort Loramie, Ohio


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