Mazak NEO: Making the Best Even Better

Jun/28/2021
  • HCN
  • Horizontal Machining Centers
  • VARIAXIS
  • HCN-6800 NEO

Much as the model names Porsche® 911® and Jeep® Grand Cherokee® are icons of the automotive world, so are Mazak’s HCN Series of Horizontal Machining Centers and its VARIAXIS Series of Vertical Machining Centers among manufacturers. All these iconic brand names share a reputation for performance, quality and reliability achieved through continuous improvement and redesign with the end user’s needs in mind. For more than 20 years, the HCN and VARIAXIS machine series have been synonymous with precision machining, and through Mazak's continuous process of making the best better, we have created our new NEO Series machines.

The HCN-6800 is considered the beast of the HMC world: Reliable, powerful, robust dependable and highly precise. The HCN-6800 NEO has received numerous upgrades that take the previous generation’s performance to a new level of efficiency and ease of use, It may look different, but it’s an HCN-6800 through and through. Right off the bat, you’ll notice its new sheet metal. We also shortened its height by almost 12", but not at the expense of any workpiece capacities.

We've improved the standard spindle, table and magazine, including a new standard 43-tool drum-type magazine that reduces tool exchange times. The machine comes standard with an improved 10,000-rpm spindle, and there is an available high-torque 8,000 rpm spindle for aggressive material removal for applications involving tough to machine materials such as titanium and Inconel. We also now offer an optional direct-drive motor table with the fastest indexing time in its class, paired with high-accuracy positioning.

The HCN-6800 NEO’s redesigned, faster ATC door is servo driven, and the new design now accommodates longer tool lengths up to 30". For operator ergonomics, the machine features a hydraulic/motorized pallet changer mechanism and easier-to-access maintenance panel located closer to the operator station that speeds up the response when an alarm indicates the machine needs routine maintenance.

On the control side, we’ve outfitted the HCN-6800 NEO with our MAZATROL SmoothG CNC with the Windows 10 operating system for expanded functionality. In addition to the standard suite of our SMOOTH TECHNOLOGY solutions and full EIA/ISO and MAZATROL conversational compatibility, the machine now provides Mazak’s new Ai Thermal Shield technology, which first debuted on our MAZATROL SmoothAi CNC. This advanced system uses machine learning and modeling to compensate instantly for changes in machine and ambient temperature over the course of operation, ensuring the highest degree of accuracy even over long machining cycles.

We’ve enhanced the new VARIAXIS i-800 NEO with a powerful CNC as well, along with faster machining cycle times, expanded workpiece capacities and more automation options. When it comes to speed, the machine now achieves rapid traverse rates of 1,890 ipm (48 m/m) in the X, Y and Z axes that contribute significantly to reduced cycle times.

In addition to speed, the VARIAXIS i-800 NEO boasts an all new two-pallet changer that incorporates a four-cone clamping system for higher precision and speed. Beyond that, our Mazak Multi-Pallet Pool (MPP) compact multiple pallet stocker system and our modular Mazak PALLETECH System both take the machine to entirely new levels of automation flexibility.

New with the VARIAXIS i-800 NEO is the MAZATROL SmoothAi CNC, with SMOOTH Project Manager Gateway software as an available option. In conjunction with external CAM software such as Autodesk’s Fusion 360, this software provides access to internal machine data, which enables the Fusion 360 programmer to query the machine for machine models, current tooling configuration, offset data, stroke limits and many other configuration parameters. This information can then be used at the CAM workstation to create more accurate machine programs configured to the limits and capabilities of the actual machine.

At Mazak, we always like to compare our new products with their predecessors, so you’ll notice we speak in terms of  “more” with the new HCN-6800 NEO and the VARIAXIS i-800 NEO – more power, more speed, more capacity and so on. That’s because, like the Porsche 911 and the Jeep Cherokee, the HCN and VARIAXIS names will always be industry icons that keep getting better.

Jeep and Cherokee are trademarks of FCA US LLC.
Porsche and 911 are trademarks of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG ("PAG").