Maka SM6-Pii

[Brian Holcombe]

Will do, I have a better compressor arriving today, once that is up and running I’ll retake the video.

The compressor arriving is 10cfm, 50Db and puts out over 8 bar which is nice. It's a Jun-Air cabinet type with built in dryer.

[Brian Holcombe]

Mark, worked out the majority of the lingering at the bottom of the travel, there was a minor leak contributing to it.

Im almost there and now the ‘new’ compressor had a few issues that it needed cured, so waiting again on parts from Europe to run it continuously but I can build pressure and hold it. The compressor and lines are pretty tight overall, it holds pressure overnight.

One really annoying thing I’m not sure how to cure, the low pressure start on the compressor is about 6 bar and it runs up to 8 bar. However the machine performs best (so far) at 7-8 bar. I can’t seem to raise the low point on the compressor enough to cure that issue. The low point is a differential between high and low, so I can raise the overall but im a little nervous to do that on this compressor, especially after finding out what replacement parts cost.

Is there any significant downside to stripping my old compressor down to its tank and using it as additional storage? I’m starting to think that the chip blower will consume air at a high enough rate to pull this out of its working pressure range rapidly.

[Patrick Walsh]

Brian,

I know your not talking to me but at the rate your going buying machinery you might as well just buy a 60 gallon 5 hp unit and air dryer

Mark, worked out the majority of the lingering at the bottom of the travel, there was a minor leak contributing to it.

Im almost there and now the ‘new’ compressor had a few issues that it needed cured, so waiting again on parts from Europe to run it continuously but I can build pressure and hold it. The compressor and lines are pretty tight overall, it holds pressure overnight.

One really annoying thing I’m not sure how to cure, the low pressure start on the compressor is about 6 bar and it runs up to 8 bar. However the machine performs best (so far) at 7-8 bar. I can’t seem to raise the low point on the compressor enough to cure that issue. The low point is a differential between high and low, so I can raise the overall but im a little nervous to do that on this compressor, especially after finding out what replacement parts cost.

Is there any significant downside to stripping my old compressor down to its tank and using it as additional storage? I’m starting to think that the chip blower will consume air at a high enough rate to pull this out of its working pressure range rapidly.

[Brian Holcombe]

Yeah, I agree but I can’t afford the noise of most compressors, even the screw type were louder than I expected.


This is a laboratory compressor, 10 CFM, on board dryer and only makes 50 DB of noise, but it has a small tank.

[Patrick Walsh]

That was a joke Brian,

But yeah if noise and space were not factors you might had well of gone for a full size compressor.

I have been down this rabbit hole myself. I’m still using a lousy porter cable job site compressor in my shop. Butnto be honest when the time comes that I want to spend $$ on a permanent solution Im still not sure what route I’ll go.

Previous to working in a shop full time with 60 gallon 5hp unit that we use up all the time and fills with water on the regular then my uncles shop with two 5hp 80 gallon units running at the same time I’m not sure what route to go now.

Seems like if you want be able to do anything with your air supply you go big. But you know if you make furniture as you do and don’t sand, use air tools, sand blast somforth and so on I’d do as you did and buy the most quite unit I could find.

Yeah, I agree but I can’t afford the noise of most compressors, even the screw type were louder than I expected.


This is a laboratory compressor, 10 CFM, on board dryer and only makes 50 DB of noise, but it has a small tank.

[Peter Christensen]

Nice compressor. A tank after it will act as a “surge reservoir” and dry the air to some extent too. I have a 5hp two stage 80 gallon compressor and it is quite loud.

[David Kumm]

Brian, I dump my small Jun Air into my 80 gallon tank, shared with the large compressor when I need a reservoir. No issues and even a good thing as it allows the air to cool down before heading out to the machine. Takes a long time to fill so I keep valves to isolate the tank so it can stay filled to some partial level and only need to be topped off. Dave

[Brian Holcombe]

Exactly, without anything that has a high demand and unluckily to change that in the future I thought it best just to go with quiet, clean and dry over volume.

For the maka it’s actuslly been pretty difficult to determine the cfm requirement since it does not take much to operate the machine but it seems to need a pretty consistent level of pressure. That is unless I’m missing something about the setup. Which very well may be. I haven’t got much time in operating it so it’s tough to say if I’ve just got something dialed in wrong.

[Brian Holcombe]

Brian, I dump my small Jun Air into my 80 gallon tank, shared with the large compressor when I need a reservoir. No issues and even a good thing as it allows the air to cool down before heading out to the machine. Takes a long time to fill so I keep valves to isolate the tank so it can stay filled to some partial level and only need to be topped off. Dave

Thanks Dave, sounds like that is the way to go. My spare is 20 gal, so it should fill pretty quickly.

[Malcolm McLeod]

2nd Peter's and David's idea. (Or is that 3rd..??) Another receiver could be installed in nearly any out-of-the-way attic corner, ceiling, or crawl space to improve your run cycles and capacity - and at minimal cost. (Love spending other people's money!)

Our remote site's instrument air needs are met with 2 'small' Atlas-Copco G-7 screw compressors with integral receivers for redundancy, then we pipe them into a pair of 400gal receivers. In addition to the redundancy, we get long run cycles, cooler air, and if the power fails, the huge storage capacity can still operate all the pneumatic systems for >2 hours.


Adder: To conserve air, take a look at venturi air nozzles (amplifiers) for chip handling. And possibly use a separate pressure regulator to the 'chip' nozzle..?? If you can run this at lower pressure, it should help stabilize the Maka's air supply.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Malcolm, those are excellent ideas.

[Mark Hennebury]

Brian, That's a nice looking compressor, It would be nice to have a quiet shop. I went big and loud. Doesn't seem to bother me much these days.....what?... can you speak up.

The Maka doesn't use a lot of air, and the chip blower doesn't need to. A pin hole size jet will work.
The pressure switch will cut out under 5 bar. operating pressure is 6-8 bar, I have an ancient Devilbiss 5hp 80 gal tank, so it has never been a problem for enough air. An extra storage tank may not hurt.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Mark! I’ve been thinking to replace my nozzle, but I’m not sure it will even be used once I install the chisels with air holes. I want to use a basic chisel to dial in the machine then swap over to the air through carbide tipped chisels.

Btw, I figured out the return issue. My machine has a valve on the return and it was turned in too far. I backed it off and it started returning more normally. I don’t know if it is OEM or if someone wanted to tune the return rate but it looks oem.

Between operations I can cycle the machine about 6 times or so with the current 13 gal tank, so the extra capacity should make that considerably more. A normal run for me might be 10 mortises, but during a chair run it could be 40-80 mortises per part type. So cutting down on the breaks between cycles is worth it.

[Mark Hennebury]

Brian, The machines originally operated with no air blowout and for the most part worked well. The problems would occur if you had dull chisels and a fast feed rate, the chips will clog up and compress rather than flying up and out, once they start to clog the gullet and pack up in front of the chisel, it gets nasty real fast. So, sharp chisels, the correct chisel stroke ( longer is better) a good fast speed (you have to experiment and get a feel for that) and your good, add in air blowout or air through the chisel and you are golden. As far as the feed; proper bleeding is essential. The regulator valve, is controlled feed open return, and sometimes an air control valve like was on yours. The thing that i found is the regulator valve has several turns of adjustment, and i only ever used about 1/4 turn range, so i would put a heavier oil in the control cylinders. that gives a smoother feed with a slightly slower return. But a better control over the usable range.

[Jim Becker]

E
For the maka it’s actuslly been pretty difficult to determine the cfm requirement since it does not take much to operate the machine but it seems to need a pretty consistent level of pressure.

That makes sense since some of the pressure is "merely" moving actuators and not "using" air like many other common tools do. Pressure is everything. The Z-Axis assist on my CNC machine works that way. Only needs a really modest air supply as it's just an actuator that doesn't expel air like a nailer does. 40 PSI keeps it happy...and it wants dry air. In your case you do use some air for the blow-out thing, of course, and that's what causes the fluctuation in pressure but it's a small stream.