MAX phases have emerged as a new class of materials and have potential for many engineering applications. However, the pressureless sintering of these powders is difficult. The present investigation aims to develop pressureless sintering techniques of some of the MAX phase compounds such as Ti3SiC2 and Ti3AlC2 powders, by using some sintering aids. Small amount of elemental Ni addition was found to increase the sintered density of both of those powders. Efforts to understand the role of Ni metal addition on the densification process and the microstructure development have been made.