Makino says it has developed the a81M for machining tough and hard materials. Suited for large- diameter boring and face milling on materials such as stainless steel, titanium, titanium alloys, inconel, ductile iron, cast iron and compacted graphite iron (CGI), the horizontal machining center features a high-torque, high-thrust spindle; a tool-to-tool time of 1.7 seconds; and a chip-to-chip time of 4.2 seconds.

The integral drive spindle employs a CAT 50-taper toolholder, with an HSK-A100 option. The spindle on the machine has an available 744 foot-pounds (1,009 Nm) peak torque rating. According to the company, the spindle has no corresponding loss of acceleration and deceleration. The acceleration/deceleration ranges are from 4.4 seconds to 3.8 seconds at 8,000 rpm.

Other specifications include XYZ axis travels of 35.4" × 31.5" × 40.1"; a rapid feed rate and cutting feed rate of 1,420 ipm in the X and Z axes, as well as 1,182 ipm in the Y axis.  It has a 25" pallet (630 mm), which is able to handle workloads as heavy as 10, 800 lbs.