Makino a81nx

The Makino a81nx is Makino's 630mm horizontal machining center: 630 mm x 630 mm (24.8 in x 24.8 in) pallets, 900 mm (35.4 in) of X and Y, 1,020 mm (40.2 in) of Z, and a CAT50 spindle at 10,000 rpm as standard or 8,000 rpm in the optional High Torque version. Makino built it around large parts with large features.

The envelope is the first change from its predecessor. Makino says reworked table and column castings, together with an additional 100mm of Y-axis stroke, give 12.5% more work envelope, and a 3-roller B-axis table bearing carries the load. In figures, the a81nx swings Ø 1,000 mm x 1,300 mm (Ø 39.4 in x 51.2 in) and carries 1,200 kg (2,645 lb) as standard or 1,500 kg (3,307 lb) with the option.

The tool limits are where this machine separates itself from the 500 mm a61nx and a71nx. It takes tools 690 mm (27.2 in) long on either CAT or HSK, up to 356 mm (14.0 in) in diameter and 30 kg (66 lb), or 35 kg (77 lb) as an option. That is room for large face mills, long boring bars and line-bar work, which is what Makino says the increase was for. Every magazine includes a tool loading station, a cam-actuated device that ejects the tool into a rail-guided drawer so even the heaviest tools can be swapped safely.

The spindle choice is a trade between speed and power. The standard 10,000 rpm spindle rapids at 50,000 mm/min (1,968 in/min). The optional 8,000 rpm High Torque spindle gives 50 HP of continuous power, 19% more than the previous model, for heavy roughing of iron castings and hard metal aerospace parts, but its rapids drop to 36,000 mm/min (1,417 in/min). Makino says both spindles cut rigid tapping times by up to 30%. The magazine holds 60 tools as standard, with 80, 136, 187 and 299 optional; tool-to-tool time is 1.7 sec with a 12 kg tool and chip-to-chip is 3.7 sec.