Niigata HN63E

With a 630 mm × 630 mm pallet, 1,200 kg (2,646 lb) of load and a 901 N·m (665 lb-ft) BT50 spindle, the Niigata HN63E is the mid-size machine in the HN-E family of box-way horizontal machining centers. It moves 1,080 mm (42.5 in) in X, 930 mm (36.6 in) in Y and 830 mm (32.7 in) in Z, and the maximum workpiece is φ1,080 mm × 1,000 mm.

Two structural features are named by Niigata for this model and not for the smaller HN50E. The first is the monster column, which sits on a wide Z-axis guide surface. The second is a Z-axis load reduction device. Because the column carries the spindle head on its front side, the load on the Z slideway is uneven; the device takes 25% of that load off the axis and spreads the rest evenly, which Niigata says suppresses deterioration over time. On a machine that depends on scraped sliding surfaces for its accuracy, that is a meaningful detail.

The pallet load can be raised. Niigata lists 1,200 kg for the 1° indexing table and, for the optional NC table, 1,200 kg with a further option of 1,500 kg (3,307 lb).

Spindle choice follows the series pattern. Standard is 6,000 min-1 with 901 N·m and 26 kW (34.9 hp). The high-speed option trades torque for 12,000 min-1 (420 N·m, 30 kW), and the high-rigidity option uses cylindrical roller bearings and tops out at 3,500 min-1. Rapids are 30 m/min on all axes, and the tool magazine grows from 62 tools to as many as 255.