Maka SM6-Pii

[Brian Holcombe]

I was cutting parts with my router the other day, my incra stop extension bar moved very slightly with every cut and result was that I had to redo four hours of work. When I realized this I was not thrilled, and removed the extension bar. It reminded me of how important a robust design is.

So, I’m happy to say that this stop does not move. I don’t slam work against a stop, but I think this could handle that without issue.



Unfortunately I need to redo the ends, I used an end mill to cut them to size, expecting to ream them slightly over size after that. Well the endmill cut it .005” oversized! I reamed them to the next size up then installed sleeves but I plan to redo it and change the design slightly as I do.

Once I get it right I plan to radius the end caps.

[Jim Becker]

Ok, boys and girls...I got to "fondle" this thing today when I was visiting with Brian. WOW. The pictures do not do justice to just how fine the work he has been doing is. That puppy is a "work of art" in addition to being a very kewel tool! LOL

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Jim! Thanks for stopping over as well.

[Patrick Walsh]

I must say it’s pretty rediculous the extent you have taken this project to. I’m not quite sure the t-75 is gonna live up to the bar you have set.

What I want is a full shot of the machine as it’s sits today as appose to these little teaser photos. Come on man give us some occilating chisel mortising tool porn. I want pictures from the front, the back the left side, the right side, upside down....

Kinda crazy I have learnt a thing or two just internet stalking your post.. I’m interested in learning more about the bronze bearings used in the fence as I can think of a million areas to incorporate them into say my air clamps and million various other things.

One question about the fence. My fd 250 came with a simular setup although not nearly as nice. Recently I went to use it when making the passage doors. It didn’t work out as the fence was not long enough. Also if referencing off the same side for all the joinery when cutting mortise on say one side of a stile “top to bottom” you would be forced to flip your workpieces vrs slide it side to side as one stop would always be in the way of the other. I guess that’s where a flip stop solves the problem and longer extensions for the fence.

How much length have you incorperated into this fence. I would kinda hope quite a bit as something like shoji could require some serious length if to just shift left to right as apposed to flipping the work piece.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Patrick! Much appreciated.

Good questions, I have done some thinking and experimenting with this over the past while with the felder.

Anymore I always plan my cutouts so that I can flip without losing accuracy. In a double tenon, single cutter layout you can delete the offset error by first flipping for half the cutout then resetting the stop the cutting the other half of the positions by flipping.

This removes the error from the offset and maintains a similar level or error in stop positioning. I mitigate that error by working of a preset gauge. I set the gauge to the cutter then bring the stop into position. This has allowed me to work without needing super long extensions and stops along the length (for joinery machines).

I cut my tenons after the mortises are produced so ensure the ability to account for the spacing between mortises, which if the sticks are consistent in size that is a thing I can account for at the beginning of the cutout.

[Brian Holcombe]

Here is an update with photos of the stop and the machine. The micro adjuster's stop is not finished and the ends of the main double-bar setup are not finished. I goofed on those ends, so I'm remaking them.

The wheel has a button, so that you can make big adjustments fast, then spin it to dial in the last little bit bring it home. That way if you want to go to the outer boundaries you can do so quickly without spinning the wheel 100x.

I have planned some thumb screws for locking down the micro adjuster. If I had to do this again I might put the wheel up top for easier access from both sides, live and learn. It works very nicely however with a fine feeling to the adjustment.





The threaded shaft is plain (stainless IIRC) but it rides in bearings. The bearings have flanges so that the wheel can ride nicely, I was able to setup for about a .002" clearance so the adjuster is nice and tight without any slop back and forth.

[Patrick Walsh]

Well Brian,

She or he is very very perty..

And that fence is pretty slick. You gotta really want something to think something like that up then figure out how to execute it not to mention make the time to do it.

This makes me itchy to work on my machine. That’s not a weekend activity though as I have plenty of other stuff I have to tend to on weekends.

[Patrick Walsh]

Your approach requires one to mortise first and tenon second.

I’m not sure why but I always tennon first and mortise second. I guess I just like dropping my marking gauge down my shoulder to my tenon and transferring the dimension.

I may want to rethink this approach consodering I can’t just flip unless I find dead center like 100%. At least on the fd I find finding dead center less than a exact science. If using birds mouth bits sure you can just align both tips with a centered layout line but for whatever reason I never get literally exact. For whatever reason I can stack cutters on my shaper to cut tenon and get my tenon perfectly centered. Clearly this is all dependent as stock dimensioned exactly to each other.

Regardless a million way to skin a cat even though I hate that saying.

Thanks Patrick! Much appreciated.

Good questions, I have done some thinking and experimenting with this over the past while with the felder.

Anymore I always plan my cutouts so that I can flip without losing accuracy. In a double tenon, single cutter layout you can delete the offset error by first flipping for half the cutout then resetting the stop the cutting the other half of the positions by flipping.

This removes the error from the offset and maintains a similar level or error in stop positioning. I mitigate that error by working of a preset gauge. I set the gauge to the cutter then bring the stop into position. This has allowed me to work without needing super long extensions and stops along the length (for joinery machines).

I cut my tenons after the mortises are produced so ensure the ability to account for the spacing between mortises, which if the sticks are consistent in size that is a thing I can account for at the beginning of the cutout.

[Jim Becker]

Patrick, I like the idea of mortise first myself...it's easier in my mine to pare down a tenon to fit than to stuff a mortise to take up space when things are too loose.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Patrick! Indeed, this one has really caused me to up my game and making something I felt befitting the original designers intention. I also have a secondary want in that this is an experiment for the miter saw station that is in my head, so I've been experimenting with manual stop ideas while I continue to dream up a CNC version given that there is no reason why a manual one couldn't be converted to CNC once it becomes affordable for me.

We didn't make a lot of parts at the machine shop, so I've also been taking on these projects to stretch my abilities and improve my layout skill and tactic. Machine work, because of the tight tolerances, reminds me where I failed in logic whenever I've failed. Sometimes in woodwork those little errors can be fitted around after the fact, not so much in metal work (not always in woodwork either).

[David Kumm]

Wonderful work Brian. Improving the improvements is part of the fun and an education in itself. Dave

[Brian Holcombe]

Your approach requires one to mortise first and tenon second.

I’m not sure why but I always tennon first and mortise second. I guess I just like dropping my marking gauge down my shoulder to my tenon and transferring the dimension.

I may want to rethink this approach consodering I can’t just flip unless I find dead center like 100%. At least on the fd I find finding dead center less than a exact science. If using birds mouth bits sure you can just align both tips with a centered layout line but for whatever reason I never get literally exact. For whatever reason I can stack cutters on my shaper to cut tenon and get my tenon perfectly centered. Clearly this is all dependent as stock dimensioned exactly to each other.

Regardless a million way to skin a cat even though I hate that saying.

The rebuilt Felder allows me to find center with reliability, before hand it was more of a crap-shoot. So on a single tenon layout, I find center then take a test cut and check my accuracy. If I'm dead-on it will be accurate enough that it will be within a similar range of tolerance in my tenoning. My tenons range +/- .005" with my current approach to cutout (router table).

If your shaper cutters are infinitely adjustable then the approach I take to double tenons should work for you. If not and you need a hard set distance between the mortises (due to your shaper cutter) then you would need to cut the tenons first and test cut your mortises until everything is in proper alignment.

[Brian Holcombe]

Wonderful work Brian. Improving the improvements is part of the fun and an education in itself. Dave

Thank you! Absolutely, and doing so has been very enjoyable. Getting my head back into machine work a bit has been fun.

[Brian Holcombe]

Taking a moment away from the fence, I decided to attend to the dust hood. I wanted to make something that would bolt on to the chip breaker and be quickly removable in case I want it out of the way for setup.

Working with 304 stainless, not because I want it to be stainless but because I can get shorts and small pieces in stainless. I plan to paint this when it's complete to avoid too many shiny metal things all in the same space.

I used the Ironworker shear to trim the pieces to size:





This will next transition to round and have the welds ground smooth.

I will likely leave the welds on the bracket that gets installed. It will be a simple tab stitched on (can't full weld a tab or it warps everything).

This will transition from 4" dia tube to 4" square to 2" x 4" opening and should cover the range of travel with exception to perhaps the furthest extreme.

Edit; My camera blurred some of the weld areas around the outside so it looks like there is a section missing. Well, that's odd.

[Brian Holcombe]

I'm all but decided to scrap my air duct and move onto something simple such as this. I'll weld a tab for attachment. This is simple, much neater looking and has better air flow characteristics.