Kitamura AW-800

The Kitamura AW-800 is a high-speed horizontal machining center optimized for aluminum machining at the 800 mm pallet scale — the 'AW' designation signaling Kitamura's focus on Aluminum Workpiece applications in aerospace, automotive, and high-tech manufacturing. Where Kitamura's general-purpose HMCs prioritize all-around precision in mixed-material production, the AW-800 is engineered around the specific demands of high-volume aluminum HMC machining: very high spindle speed, aggressive rapids, and chip evacuation architecture suited to the enormous chip volumes that aluminum generates at high material removal rates.

The 30,000 RPM direct-drive spindle is the AW-800's defining specification, making it one of the highest-speed horizontal machining centers in the market at the 800 mm pallet scale. Spindle power of 26 kW (35 hp) enables genuinely aggressive aluminum cutting — high-feed roughing at 4,000-6,000 mm/min, deep trochoidal paths in aluminum aerospace billets, and high-speed finishing at surface speeds that produce superior surface finish without secondary operations. The HSK-A63 spindle interface provides superior clamping force and runout consistency versus BT/CAT systems at these spindle speeds.

The 800 mm square pallet supports workpieces up to 1,000 kg (2,205 lb), appropriate for large aerospace structural components — wing ribs, fuselage frames, cockpit structures, and large brackets. The B-axis rotary table provides four-sided access in a single setup. The dual-pallet APC keeps the spindle cutting while the operator loads the next pallet, and the twin-arm tool changer delivers a rapid 4.0-second chip-to-chip time even with the large-shank HSK-A63 tools.

Rapids of 60,000 mm/min (2,362 ipm) on all linear axes are among the fastest in the large HMC class — an important specification in aluminum work where air-cutting time between features represents a significant fraction of total cycle time on large structural parts. New AW-800 machines typically price between $500,000 and $700,000, reflecting the high-speed spindle system, HSK-A63 tooling architecture, and the additional engineering required for high-speed aluminum chip management.