Mid-size 500 mm horizontal center, 15 000 rpm BT40 spindle, 60-tool changer, built for heavy parts up to 700 kg.
Short intro, then a skip. Kitamura, the Nagano-based builder, has been around since 1933. They ship roughly 1 800 machines a year according to their 2022 corporate report, and the HX line sits smack in the middle of that flow. The HX500iG, current third-generation revision, replaced the older HX500i in 2019 with thicker column casting and a new Arumatik-Mi control. Enough history, moving on.
Heavy box way or linear rails, somebody will ask. Here you get roller linear guides, wide pitch, preloaded, no mystery oils. X goes 710 mm, Y 610 mm, Z 680 mm. Feels balanced: nothing crazy long so you do not chase vibration, nothing too short so tombstone work is still possible.
You pause, look at the casting ribs, notice the base is one piece. Good, fewer joints to fret over. Two sentences are never enough so one more: the column rides on dual ballscrews on Y, that keeps nod error in check when the spindle is out at max Z.
Before diving deeper a quick bullet rundown of the axis package for the skim readers:
You blink, digest, then realise the list only scratches the surface. So two more sentences: factory-mounted glass scales mean no external sealing tape, easier in the dusty atmosphere of Sharjah shops, and the doubled ballscrew bearings prevent the infamous thermal drift many job shops complain about.
Kitamura sticks with BT40 here, chilled through the centre. Maximum speed is 15 000 rpm, delivered by a 22 kW dual winding motor, peak torque 191 Nm at 1 200 rpm. The motor nestles in a closed water jacket, coolant setpoint 28 °C. Arumatik lets you play with gearless speed steps, not new but still handy.
Another micro list, because that is how the brain stores facts:
One could keep piling numbers yet context matters. Operators in Abu Dhabi often report heat soak spikes late afternoon, so the water jacket ties into an external chiller, HX500iG ships with the loop already hard-piped. Less hose spaghetti, fewer leaks.
Horizontal centers live or die by pallet logistics. Here the base machine comes with a 2-station APC. The hydraulic clamp covers 7 000 N. Kitamura rates each pallet at 700 kg, enough for a 508 mm cube plus tombstone. The door cycle is under 9 s, measured with empty pallet, yes real life times stretch a bit.
From the factory you can bolt on a 6, 8 or 10 pallet pool on the left side, leaving the right side clear for bar feeder or parts conveyor. In UAE shops with short night shifts that makes sense: run steel valves by day, aluminium manifolds unattended till dawn. I saw exactly that setup in Ras Al Khaimah three months ago, the maintenance log showed less than 1 % pallet drop faults over four weeks.
Nothing is perfect. The chip conveyor is still single-screw, overflows if you hog SG iron at full depth. Also the window wiper motor turns a bit slow, a minor gripe but when sand dust sticks to the glass you notice.
Yet the bones are solid. Thermal mapping across 12 points on the spindle nose recorded a drift of only 4 µm over 8 h during a test at 40 °C ambient. That is workshop reality in Dubai summer, not some chilly lab figure.
HX400G below, HX630iG above. Same control, pallet size varies. Compared with the smaller 400 mm model you gain 180 mm extra Z which opens room for longer deep-hole drills. Against the 630 mm unit you lose 350 kg table load but save nearly 1.4 m² of floor footprint. UAE rental rates push people toward the mid size, explains why local dealers move more 500iGs than 630s.
A table makes the point clearer. Two other machines you will likely cross-shop are DMG MORI NHX5000 and Makino a51nx. Numbers come from their 2023 brochures.
| Feature | Kitamura HX500iG | DMG MORI NHX5000 | Makino a51nx |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pallet size | 500 mm | 500 mm | 400 mm |
| X/Y/Z travel | 710/610/680 mm | 730/730/880 mm | 560/640/640 mm |
| Spindle speed | 15 000 rpm | 15 000 rpm | 14 000 rpm |
| Rapid rate | 60 m/min | 60 m/min | 60 m/min |
| Tool capacity | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Max load | 700 kg | 700 kg | 400 kg |
| Control | Arumatik-Mi | CELOS | Pro-5 |
Two sentences before the table already done, two after now. You notice Kitamura trails in raw Y travel but matches speeds, plus hauls heavier parts than Makino. For valve body producers weight margin beats surplus stroke any day.
The HX500iG feels like that middle child who quietly gets things done. No semiconductors inside the bed casting, no marketing fireworks. Just a stiff column, chilled spindle and pallet options that grow with the shop. That is why pump makers in Jebel Ali pick it, why aerospace subcontractors in Al Ain keep calling for another unit. In short, reliability first, glamour second.
A short closing list because habits die hard:
– Rigid roller guides survive dusty Gulf air better than box ways drowned in grit
– Glass scale feedback shrinks warm up time, useful when power cuts force a restart
– Arumatik control speaks Arabic interface file out of the box, the operator menu translation is actually readable
Now exhale. The machine will not run itself, but it gives you enough help so the operator can sip karak tea instead of babysitting the cycle.
