Atlas milling attachment

Saw this on E-bay today.

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Any opinions on this. Seems like he wants a lot of money for it. I wouldn't mind having one as I don't have room for a real milling macine but I wonder if these things are worth buying. It uses a morse taper collet and I'm uncertain if they would have enough holding power. Also would this cause excessive wear to my old Atlas? Then there's the question of whether it would be a big pain in the ass to setup.

-- Doug Arthurs Kent Bridge, On

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Reply to
Doug Arthurs
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Basically all your suspicions are correct.

1) they are very limited in rigidity and are difficult to set up for any involved work, beyond a simple keyway. 2) you cannot take heavy cuts with the MT2 collet holding an endmill, but then one cannot as a general rule take heavy cuts with a milling attachment anway. 3) if you do take heavy cuts it will put a bit of a strain on the cross slide and so on. 4) even with all these drawbacks, a milling attachment like this is better than no milling machine at all, and as such are highly in demand - and tend to fetch a very good price. Scan around and see what an original southbend milling attachment would cost on ebay, if you can find one. =8-O

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

Yes they are expensive. I was going to buy one but instead bought a used "bench top" knee type mill-drill at an auction for $500 and made room for it. Glad I did, much more versatile and easier to use. I know this really doesn't answer your question, but thought I'd give you a nudge in the direction of a mill. I guess it depends on how much you would use it. Lane

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d=1 Any opinions on this. Seems like he wants a lot of money for it. I

Reply to
Lane

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d=1 Any opinions on this. Seems like he wants a lot of money for it. I

I've known a few people that have them, and mostly they say they are very limited in what they can do.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Winlund

I made up a heavy angle setup for my SB9A to hold the compound in the vertical plane. End mills are held in a MT3 3/8 collet from Busy Bee. Not a perfect setup by any means but it helps me putter in my shop for my own enjoyment. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Reply to
Gerald Miller

Well - there are no bids yet. It might not sell.

However IMO milling attachments like this (factory ones, not the palmgren type) are pretty rare and tend to go for big money.

A cursory ebay seach show this one as being the only one, including recent finished auctions as well. So it's tough to get a comp.

I have to agree with you that they hardly seem to be worth the money, given the limited utility. I actually purchased a *new* 9" SB milling attachment for my lathe at one point, back when this did not require taking out a bank loan. The person who purchased that machine was very happy to see that it was included!

Jim

================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================

Reply to
jim rozen

Reply to
Waffen54

I bought one of those new in 1977, before I got my mill-drill. IIRC, the price was about $250.00. It is capable of some decent work, as long as you get to know its limitations, and spend time setting it up right. Good sharp end mills help, because the setup is flimsy, and anything done to reduce stress and vibration helps. With a little imagination, many things can be done with it. Now the only time I use it is for putting a bore in the end of a long piece that can't be held any other way.

Jim Don't raise the bridge, lower the water

Reply to
Pookie45678

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