Atlas Horizontal mill

I don't want to readALL of the replies to this thread,but your rotary table is not really a rotary table,I think. It is a simple indexing table. Look at the holes around it. Those are the indexing holes that make it easier to mill a hexagon,etc..

I saw one many years ago,that had a hexagonal shaped table. It was ONLY for hexagons. Not sure how many shapes yours will mill,but it is limited.
 
I don't want to readALL of the replies to this thread,but your rotary table is not really a rotary table,I think. It is a simple indexing table. Look at the holes around it. Those are the indexing holes that make it easier to mill a hexagon,etc.. Not sure how many shapes yours will mill,but it is limited.

Were you referring to this pic.?
I guess "technically" you'd be correct.. but I think even Atlas called it a rotary table. And lets be realistic, the Atlas is only capable of so much. I know it works well for making squares fot "Tee" handles for my chucks.ahm 5.jpg
 
If that is all you want to do with it is mill things like your chuck keys. But it isn't really "rotary". There are a number of small rotary tables on the market,though,which would fit the Atlas. Several sources offer 4" rotary tables. The next step up would be a 6",but that might bee too large to fit into the work envelope of the Atlas. Too bad a 5" isn't out there(as far as I know.)

You'll need to get a strong angle plate to use it horizontally to mill chuck keys. And then,devise a way to hold the keys while you mill them. Perhaps a VEE block with strong clamps would work after carefully centering it. I recommend that your angle plate have strong webs.

To tell the truth,if I wanted to mill chuck key squares on that mill,I'd stick it out of the side of the vise,mill a flat,then rotate it 90º, and check it with a square resting on the table. It will be MUCH more rigid. The Atlas I had worked best with narrow cutters(like 1/4" or less wide) Angled teeth are the best,too. And,they need to be SHARP.

DO MAKE yourself an OUTBOARD SUPPORT. Look on Tony Lathes site for Atlas mill pictures showing it. Back when I had the Atlas,there was no internet,and I had no catalog showing it. My knee jerked badly when I tried to mill steel. I was young back then,and did not know better. It would have helped EL MUCHO!!! And,not that hard to make.

You can only make things so snug. The outboard is the best help you will get for the mill.

Do you know that a separate company made a slotting attachment for that mill? And someone made a simple vertical head? It was driven off the spindle by a round(?) belt,made to turn 90º by jockey pulleys. You can see it all on Tony lathes site. I visited him in England. Long train ride from London. But,the farther North you go,the better England looks. And,the trains are so much better,faster,and more modern. Very high speed.

Don't take this post the wrong way: I am trying to be helpful as an experienced machinist.

I still have the correct Atlas mill vise. It was my first mill.
 
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There is nothing to take the wrong way! And many are here to learn and others to help. I've never had a bad experience from anyone here. Actually just the opposite, always someone willing to help.

I've got a Clausing 8520 also, and a "real" 3 axis rotary table too. Making chuck keys is one of the "projects' (while easy) gets you time with the hands on the tools. And it's just plain fun! So thanks for the replies George, glad you stopped by.
 
Atlas, in their catalogs, called it a rotary index table. Here is a photo and description out of their Catalog M43. Compared to a comparable size 5-1/2" rotary index table that you could find in a catalog today, it lacks the worm gear rotary drive. But as you can see in the catalog photo, the base is engraved in one degree increments and you can rotate and lock the table at any angle from 0 to 360 degrees. The 30 degree index holes are time savers for cases where you are for example cutting a dog clutch as in the photo. The Atlas mill doesn't have an excess of head room. Elimination of the gears lowered the top clamping surface. And the Atlas machines were built for the lower end of the machine shop market (and the upper end of the hobbyest market) so it kept the cost down, which was important.

Atlas M1-350.jpg

As an aside, note that the photographer who was taking the catalog photos didn't bother to install the arbor support. ;)
 
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I should have worded my response to say,and actually thought about this last night late,after I had turned off the computer: You cannot do rotary milling on the table because it is not what we call a true rotary table. It actually CAN rotate, of course. Just not under the power of a worm gear drive crank handle. So,they CAN call it a rotary INDEX table,which is correct. But,it is still not just called a ROTARY table. not a big deal anyway.

Has anyone ever seen the hexagonal rotary index table that they (apparently) made? A college friend had one I saw in the 60's.
 
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I think that that is a valid comment.
 
Has anyone ever seen the hexagonal rotary index table that they (apparently) made? A college friend had one I saw in the 60's.

I Googled & Binged the term "hexagonal rotary index table" and found nothing but the usual rotary tables for milling operations..

I was hoping to at least find a pic or two..
 
Atlas built that rotary table and a very simmilar one for the shaper. I would say that for a horizontal mill or shaper, having the worm gear rotation is superfelous, as neither of those types of machines, in the configuration that that rotary table is designed for, can use it for anything other than indexing (you can't cut an arc with it like on a vertical machine. I think you would be hard pressed to use one on an angle attachment with the mill, due to space. I used on of the "spin indexers" like this to machine some hex or square ends on a part with the Atlas shaper:

0967201-23.jpg

If I remember right, I clamped it to the side of the table. This might work pretty good on an atlas mill.
 
Thanks for chiming in CJ, you bring up some good points also.

Does that piece use a 5 C collet? I'd love to find one that uses 3C collets as I have those for my lathe already.
 
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