Maka SM6-Pii

[Brian Holcombe]

After a long but mainly passive search, one of these machines came up for sale near me. I plan to restore it. It runs well and the pneumatics function but it has a few points i need to address.







If nothing else I can greatly admire whomever designed this machine, it leaves me in awe a bit.

[David Eisenhauer]

Watched a video of this animal in action. Jeez - a hungry buzzsaw for sure. Sounds like a chain gun on a Warthog. Questions - Is the garage starting to get full? Do you tend to dim the lights in the neighborhood from time to time? How does one collect dust for this new addition?

[Bill Adamsen]

I'm very jealous Brian. Occasionally I see knives come on the market, will be sure to give you a heads up when do.

[Brian Holcombe]

Mark Hennebury is the man for these machines, so he’s probably made the video that you saw.

To say the garage is getting full is to put it modestly, I think my wife is going to drop a cast iron table on my foot if she sees another one show up here.

im looking forward to using it, I put some rubber feet in the hopes it will quiet it down slightly.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, not only is "that garage" getting full...it's a tight single version to-boot! What a nice find, however...I enjoyed our conversation about it this afternoon. I didn't know such things existed!

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Jim! The pleasure is mine!

Hah, yes this is small even by one-car standards.

[Nick Decker]

Like Jim, I had no idea what it was, had to look it up. Cool machine, although I'm guessing it'll rattle your teeth.

[David Kumm]

Nice get. Mark is the man and likely has some chisels if you need them and lots of advice. His resto work is second to none. I have a Maka in storage but no experience with it. When something like that comes up, need is secondary. Dave

[Mark Hennebury]

woodmortise3[1].jpg




Thanks Brian and David.

[Mark Hennebury]

[Jim Becker]

Dang....that thang cuts fast! Brian described it to be yesterday when he was visiting, but it's hard to visualize until you "see the buzz". Thanks for sharing that video, Mark!

[Jeff Bartley]

Looking great Brian! What did you use to cover the air lines? It almost looks like tubular nylon webbing, the type used for rock climbing rigs.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thank you both!

Jeff, that describes it accurately. McMaster describes it as expandable polyester sleeving, this is the first that I’ve used it and I think it works quite well. I sized it to one tube and it expanded to cover both tightly.

The sleeve around the foot pedal tubing was more of a dense weave, very similar to the material used on welders.

I ordered a new air piston, and a big hunk of aluminum to make a mount. I matched sizing to the original as best as possible. The piston is 2-1/2” rather than the original which I believe is 60mm. I found some npt to BSPP fittings for that but I may simply recut the thread to accommodate BSPP and have the assembly look factory.

Given how many different shafts I need to fit im now on the hunt for a boring head for the mill.

[Joe Calhoon]

The Maka is looking great Brian! Your metal working skills are awesome. Are you spraying the paint and what brand?

[Mark Hennebury]

Brian, Great work! the Maka should cut crisp, clean accurate joints with how tight you have made it.