I recently rented “Operating an Atlas Horizontal Milling Machine” by Rudy Kouhoupt from SmartFlix and I wanted to take a moment to review the video.

Topic: Operating a Horizontal Milling Machine (Atlas MFC)
Level: Beginner
Format: DVD (2.5 hours)

Overall I think the video is definitely worth renting, especially for anyone who owns an Atlas mill, or anyone who is new to horizontal mills in general. However, more advanced machinists might find parts of the video a bit slow.

There are two projects included in the video. A saw arbor and a clamp block (basically a fixture plate) – both are of Rudy’s design. Plans for both projects are included with the video and Rudy spends the second half of the video showing how to make the clamp block step-by-step.

ProjectsInMetal readers can now sign up for Machinist University through SmartFlix and get the first month free! That’s a $23 value. There is no obligation and you can cancel at any time. I’ve been renting from SmartFlix for a few years now and I have never had anything other than positive experiences. Click on the link above or the image below for details.

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I found this nifty little vise over on the Prints and Plans Yahoo group, posted by “SterTrak”. The design allows for the vise to be as large as the length of your mill’s table – which makes it great for holding larger parts.

But as you can see from the pictures, it works just as well for smaller items.

If you decide to make your own please take a few pictures of the process and post them to the forum!

  Versatile_Mill_Vise_Plans.pdf (844.6 KiB, 263 hits)
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I came across this project several months ago on Instructables.com and I thought it might make a good beginner milling project. The author, Doc Workingday graciously gave me permission to add his project to this site.

It’s a simple project for making a set of clamps that fit an X2 Mini Mill (Sieg / Harbor Freight / Grizzly) and these clamps would make a great first project for anyone who owns an X2 or similar sized mill.

The original instructable can be found here. However, for those of you who don’t have an instructables.com account, I’ve provided a PDF copy of the project instructions as well as the drawing below. Doc also provides SLDDRW and SLDPRT files of the drawing in his instructable for those of you with CAD capabilities.

Thanks again for letting me share this with my readers Doc!

  making_vise_clamps_on_the_milling_machine.pdf (704.2 KiB, 787 hits)
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  Vise_Clamp_Drawing.pdf (30.5 KiB, 493 hits)
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