Help with Milling Attachment on Atlas Lathe

[robinj66]

you may recall that I recently posted some pics of my Atlas lathe. Thanks for all your advice.Ii have now got a nice set of indexable tools from Chronos and one or two other bits to help me play. Still early days but I'm enjoying carving up odd bits of metal

I have been given (how lucky am I) the milling attachment for my Atlas TV36 lathe. I've given it a bit of a clean and it all appears to be working - smooth and nice 'n' tight .

I have also got the "draw bar, sleeve and an arbor for straight shank cutters" as per p168 of the Atlas manual. The arbor has a grub screw in it so I assumed that the milling "bits" needed are something like this (with a notch in the shaft)http://www.cutweltools.co.uk/files/ww/HSS%20A33.pdf. However the manual states that "collet bushings are required to adapt end mills to the arbor of this set". Can anyone point me in the right direction for these collets? Are they unique to the Atlas machinery?

I have no experience of milling except for what I've seen on You Tube etc and I'm not sure what I am supposed to do with the "sleeve".

Any and all advice gratefully received

 

[shenion]

I have the same setup.

You can make the adapters. Get some 1/2" steel and cut a short piece in the arbor. Drill for the size you need (use center drill then actual size.) Then drill hole in the side for the grub screw to pass through.

I had/made 7/16", 3/8", 5/16" and 1/4" adapters.

 

[robinj66]

Thanks. there were a couple of "top hats" which had been made up but I wasn't sure they were anything to do with this. they just need drilling for the grub screw.

Does the sleeve go next to the wheel?

 

[shenion]

Yes, the sleeve keeps the far end centered in the spindle.

The milling attachment works, but only for real light work.

Watch the two set screws. Mine were bottoming out so it was really not held down well. Broke a few milling bits before I realized why it kept coming loose. I made some longer pins.

Lock the carriage when using the attachment. It really helps with stiffness (square head screw on top, right front of carriage.)

 

[robinj66]

Brill - thanks for the info

 

[Pete.]

Also take care when using the milling attachment as it puts a lot of load on the reverse cone that it mounts onto. My Atlas 10f had been repaired where this had been ripped off in a chuck crash.