Hydromat EPIC 45

The Hydromat EPIC 45 is Hydromat's flagship CNC rotary transfer machining platform, representing a significant evolution from the foundational HT series. Where the HT machines use a primarily hydraulic-actuation architecture, the EPIC (Electronic Precision Integrated Control) series replaces hydraulic axis drives with CNC servo drives on every spindle unit and feed axis — delivering position feedback, programmable feed rates, and full closed-loop control at each of the machine's 16 stations. The 45 designation refers to the maximum 45 mm bar stock diameter capacity. This combination of 16-station simultaneous machining and full CNC servo control on every axis makes the EPIC 45 one of the most capable volume production machining platforms available for prismatic and rotational parts in the 45 mm diameter class.

The EPIC 45's 16-station rotary table provides twice the process complexity of the 8-station HT series, allowing more intricate parts with a greater number of distinct machining operations to be completed in a single cycle. Each station accepts Hydromat's modular tooling heads: horizontal and vertical drilling/boring units, tapping units, milling heads, thread whirling units, polygon turning units, and specialized form tool stations. The CNC servo drives allow each spindle's feed rate, depth, and dwell to be individually programmed, enabling features like peck drilling, chip-breaking cycles, and precision boring with in-feed compensation. Indexing is servo-hydraulic with electronic position verification at each station.

Hydromat's EPIC control platform — based on a Siemens 840D sl or equivalent industrial CNC — stores complete job programs including all station spindle speeds, feed rates, depths, and sequencing logic. Job changeovers on the EPIC 45 are accomplished primarily through program recall and tool offset adjustment rather than physical spindle reconfiguration, making the EPIC more flexible for mixed-production environments than the older HT series. For dedicated production of a single part family, however, the EPIC 45's cycle time advantage remains its primary value proposition: a 16-second cycle on 16 simultaneous stations produces the same output as 16 machining centers each running a 256-second cycle — at a fraction of the combined floor space and labor cost.

New EPIC 45 systems are priced in the $900,000 to $1,500,000 range, reflecting the substantially more sophisticated servo-CNC architecture versus the HT series. At this price level, the EPIC 45 is targeted at tier-one automotive suppliers, hydraulic and pneumatic OEM component manufacturers, and precision defense contractors with committed high-volume production programs. ROI analysis typically requires 100,000+ annual parts with consistent design to justify the investment, but for qualifying production programs the EPIC 45's throughput and quality advantages are compelling.