You can spend thousands of dollars on a benchtop milling machine, but you can do a lot of good work on an inexpensive mill, too.

The Atlas CH-10M mini-mill is a benchtop milling machine, designed for small-scale metalworking. Unlike other machines in its size class, the Atlas is mostly cast iron, with an extruded aluminum column. It's about 2 1/2 times as heavy as the Sherline mill, Atlas vs. Sherlineand has a significantly larger Morse taper #3 spindle. Themotor is 1/2 horsepower variable-speed DC, with the power switch and speed control knob on the head. The machine is supplied with a Jacobs-style chuck, held in place by a 3/8"-16 drawbar bolt.

The travel is 9 inches on the X axis, 4 inches on the Y axis, and 8.5 inches on the Z axis (from the bottom of the drill chuck to the top of the table). Atlas rates the drill capacity in C1018 cold-rolled steel as 1/2 inch, the same for end milling capacity, and 1 inch face milling in the same stock.Back view All three axes have locks that act on the gibs, The Y- and Z-axis ways are protected by rubber accordion boots. Some folks use the ability to cut a 3/8" slot 1/8" deep in steel as the separation between real milling machines and toys. The Atlas makes that cut with ease.

Unlike most mills in this size category, the head is counterbalanced. It uses a gas spring, which is nestled into the column extrusion. A link rod connects the head to the gas spring. The column is a full 5 inches wide, with a 2.7 inch dovetail. The column is attached to the base by a 40mm nut that looks big enough to hold a wheel onto a railroad car. A wrench is provided. The column can tilt 45 degrees right or left for angle drilling or milling by loosening the monster nut.

BenchTop CNC Mill, Accessories,& Machined Products.

Quicksilver Industries is committed to manufacturing superior quality products. Our goal is to offer a quality product at affordable prices. With the combined knowledge of our affiliates, we have over 40 years experience in the industry.

Our main product is the CNC Benchtop Mill/Drill conversion. We have taken the industry favorite RongFu RF31 Mill/Drill and added a very robust servo package. What we came up with was a true 3 axis benchtop cnc mill with a closed loop servo system which utilizes Copley servo controls, Galil controller card, and an outstanding G code software package. Coming soon will be a CNC conversion kit, X and Y ballscrew conversion kit for the benchtop mill/drill.

Other items include after market upgrades such as an air power drawbar conversion kit for the Mill/Drill. With its easy installation, the air power drawbar conversion is a must for your Grizzly, Enco, RongFu Mill/Drill.

Along with the power drawbar conversion, we are offering a X &Y ballscrew conversion kit. Our X & Y ballscrew conversion kit will include all hardware to convert your benchtop mill/drill to have ballscrews on the X & Y axis. An integral part of the ballscrew kit will include motor mounts for future CNC conversion. This kit will be avaiable summer of 2008.

We also offer an axle alignment tool used on NASCAR race vehicles. If you are the owner/operator of such a vehicle then you need to take a look at our axle alignment system. You can get more information about these items on our products page. Please excuse our incomplete web site. We are in the process of building and hope to have it completed soon. Feel free to send an email and let us know what you think.