Watts Engineering founder Mark Watts and current owner and president James Kidon in front of the new Kitamura MedCenter 5AX
At 42 years old James Kidon of Watts Engineering is still pretty young for the trade, but he cut his teeth in machining via the old school ways. His manufacturing career started in 2001 as a conventional machinist in the US Navy. The foundational skills needed to thrive in that environment give him a knowledge base that many of his peers can’t fall back on when things go south. “Compared to a lot of other people my age in the industry I have a lot more of a traditional machinist’s background,” explains Watts Engineering President James Kidon. “I know the art, the voodoo, the magic that you only get by doing things conventionally. Most of my contemporaries started out at a shop like this with CNC and automation. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I feel my experience helps me to see different solutions. When you’re deployed you’ve gotta get things done with what you’ve got, and you learn to think differently.” After leaving the Navy James took his conventional wisdom to an aerospace company in San Deigo where he cut his teeth on complex, high value parts. That satisfied his manufacturing cravings for a bit, but he ended up taking a couple years away from machining. His sabbatical included a stint as a machinery salesperson and utilizing his GI bill to go to school. During that time, he was contract programming for companies throughout San Diego County.
Contract programming was a great way for James to stay sharp, network, and work on a variety of projects in a plethora of industries. “There is a big demand here in Southern California for contract programmers,” tells James. “that’s how I met Mark Watts, the founder of Watts Engineering. We had a mutual friend who introduced us. Mark had a big project and needed an extra hand, so I started working with him as needed. Pretty soon I became a staple around here, doing increasingly more for him. Sometime in 2011 I was discussing with a Navy friend and mentor about opening a shop together. He too is a machinist, and we had some ideas. I started picking Mark’s brain about it. With Mark, I had this guy who has gone through it all before, I trusted and valued his opinions on the whole idea. At some point he says “why don’t you just buy into this place. We can form a partnership and figure out how you can pay me for my shares of the business.” He was very fair on the valuation, and flexible on how I could pay, so I took him up on the offer. I was partners with him for five years and then I jumped ship and went to work for one of our largest customers. Mark and I had some competing goals, stemming mostly from me being younger and wanting aggressive growth while Mark liked our current trajectory and was more focused towards retirement. We resolved the partnership, and he bought me out. Spoiler alert, everything concluded on good terms, hence me sitting here today. I worked for 5 years at MagCanica, a magnetoelastic torque sensor company, all the while still moonlighting as a programmer. I came to the realization that I belonged in a shop. It took me a while to figure out how passionate I am about manufacturing, and I wasn’t getting that excitement working for the sensor company. Manufacturing is a buzz, a vibe, high pressure, it’s exciting, and I needed that. I didn’t need the money, but I needed the rush. Working two full time jobs was too much though, I also concluded that I’m not wired to work for other people. I didn’t want to work for anyone but myself. Again, I began looking for ways to start or buy into a manufacturing business. I looked hard at an EDM company in the same industrial complex as Watts, and once again I began to pick Mark’s brain. Not even two weeks went by, and he said, “just buy this place, you know it, you love it, I’ll make you a good deal, just make it yours.” So, I did, taking control in April of 2021. Since then, it has been nothing but growth, growth, growth.”
The MedCenter 5AX is the newest Kitamura at Watts Engineering. It came online earlier this year specifically for a family of parts. Speed, accuracy, expandability, and footprint all played a part in selection. Icing on the cake is the service and support from Machinery Sales Co and Kitamura.
When James purchased Watts, it came equipped with 2 Hurco verticals, a Hurco 5 axis, a Hurco lathe, and a handful of support style pieces of equipment. It was a solid lineup of well performing machines. The business was centered around a fair bit of tooling and fixturing, low quantities, a couple of these and a few of those. Organically, and based on customer’s demands Watts transitioned away from those types of jobs into more complex families of parts with larger quantities. “Over the last four years I don’t know if it is even fair to call us a job shop anymore,” explains James. “It is production, production, production, all the time. We manufacture a variety of torque sensor assemblies and a lot of components for gas turbine engines. The added complexities and more difficult deadlines meant we needed a different quiver of machine tools to better service our customers. In August of 2021 I got a production order from a new customer, and I needed a machine right away. The Navy teaches you that inaction is not an option, you move forward with the information you have, and you adjust as more information comes in. I needed another spindle and was at the point of who has what machine, and can I get it now. I was looking at another CAT40 vertical, which in hindsight was pure madness, but I already had a great relationship with Machinery Sales Co. so it was a logical place to start. John Kinard was the guy back then and he came in with a list price on the Hurco vertical, and an aggressive price on a Kitamura HX250. We looked at the HX250 closely to confirm that the parts would fit within the machine. A horizontal has less travel than a vertical of the same footprint, so it was imperative that we measured twice and bought once. The parts, a custom electronics enclosure for the medical industry, just barely fit, and I pulled the trigger. So in August of 2021 I purchased my first Kitamura. It was a HX250iG, and the last one on the boat. I’d never run a Kitamura, didn’t even see it in person until it was delivered. Marco, the current GM at Machinery Sales was working for a different company at the time and vouched for the machine on a phone call with me. I had to wait a week or two before it was installed, but that gave me time to get the programming done and have tombstones made. We hit the ground running, cutting chips the day install was complete.”
The HX250 arrived as a bone stock machine. No bells, no whistles, just the impressive specs you expect from a machine of this caliber. “Right out of the box the HX250iG has a 15,000 RPM BT30 spindle, and a 40-tool changer,” tells James. “Accuracy is 2 microns volumetric and one micron repeatability. So, on paper it’s ready to perform. As a base level build it didn’t come with all stuff I wanted, but I took what I could find at the time. It isn’t bone stock anymore.”
The Kitamura HX250iG was the first Kitamura James purchased. It was the last machine on the boat, and he bought it sight unseen.
What began as a standard build has blossomed into a production powerhouse.
It seems ridiculous, but the small footprint is a big reason that James was so attracted to this machine. Space is a premium in San Diego and most of his parts fit in the palm of your hand. “A compact beast of a machining center is what I wanted,” details James. “The HX250 has nearly the same footprint as my 40” by 20” Hurco VM20i vertical, but the spindle efficiency is more than double what I was getting before. It isn’t a slight to the Hurco, I value that machine, but the nature of the horizontal just higher efficiency by loading and unloading parts while the machine is still running. You can do the work of two verticals in one machine; the math is easy.” Field expandability of the HX250 was another key selling point for James. He knew the entry level build wasn’t going to stay that way for long, and it didn’t. Within the first year the upgrades had already begun. “The first thing we did was add a coolant chiller,” continues James. “Where we are it is hot in the summer and that was a no brainer. Next was an expanded tool changer. We now have 102 tools available. We introduced full probing, through spindle coolant, and a 10-pallet pool with all Zero Point fixturing from Lang Technik, Jergens, and Synergy Tooling. I added the pallet pool a year and a half after I got the machine because of an increased demand on a particular torque sensor assembly. The HX250 is maxed out now on features and spindle time. It runs 24 hours a day nonstop all week long. I think it is important to say that with the Zero Point fixturing, probing, 102 tools, and 10 pallets; the HX250 also excels on short run jobs. It is easy to swap a pallet to a different job and be up and running very quickly. The machine is great and so is the service I get from Machinery Sales and Kitamura.”
Field expandability of the Kitamura HX25iG was another key selling point for James he quickly upgraded it with 102 tools, and 10 pallets.
According to James, Machinery Sales Co and Watts Engineering are a great fit. He’s at the point that if businesses don’t align together, it isn’t worth anyone’s time. That goes for customers and vendors. “Machinery Sales / Kitamura have treated me exceptionally well,” tells James. “Always been very fair with me, very transparent, and always get me back up and running as quickly as possible. They are not continually trying to monetize the situation and are happy to walk me through something over the phone instead of sending an expensive tech out for a simple fix. Anything that has come up and they are responsive, supportive, you name it. For a customer like me with one machine I don’t feel like I’m pushed aside for the company who has 20 or 30. That’s huge, right? Because that’s what sells the second unit. The salesman gets the first machine in the door, but the machine, and the support always sell the second one. I put them through the wringer on the second Kitamura. Not in the sense of back and forth on pricing but ultimately landing on if the MedCenter 5AX was the right machine to meet my needs. I want equipment that is very well suited for what I need now rather than worry about what’s coming up in the future. So even though my experience with the HX250 has been amazing it didn’t mean I was just going to buy another Kitamura. We’re at the point where the volumes are high enough on our parts that we needed to start concentrating less on equipment that can satisfy a whole slew of different check boxes and focus on buying something that can do it better, and more efficiently. Ultimately, after looking at a whole bunch of different manufacturers I went with the Kitamura MedCenter 5AX. The MedCenter is unique in that there’s not a lot of manufacturers that make a 5 axis of that comparable spec. The footprint is incredibly small, has big horsepower turning a 30,000 RPM spindle, and its twice as accurate as the very precise HX250. So, it’s one micron positional, and half micron repeatability on that machine. When you start stacking it up against the competition, nobody quite gets there. You have a couple that are around the same footprint, but then you’re going to concede on the spindle, or you’re going to compromise on accuracy, this, or that. The MedCenter was the one that checked all the boxes. The icing on the cake was Machinery Sales Co and Kitamura. Got it in January and I’ve been very happy with the performance. My goal is to expand the tool changer to 120 tools and install the 24-pallet system down the road . The Navy taught me how it important it is to have a plan and to keep moving forward so I installed the MedCenter 5AXin a location with the pallet pool in mind.”
Left – Hurco has been a mainstay at Watts Engineering for many years, and James is working with Hurco’s ProCobots division to add a cobot later this year. Their relationship with Machinery Sales Co is a great fit. Right – This is Watt’s first GenTurn and swiss style lathe. They’ve been impressed with the performance and the service from Expand Machinery. James incorporates the TRAK TC820si lathe for the larger production turning and the TRAK VMC2 for it’s ease of use and portability.
Everybody must find their niche and for James and Watts Engineering that is multi axis milling and turning. If you need a box with holes, you won’t like his pricing but give him a complex production run and they really shine. “I’m at my happiest and most excited making multi axis parts,” details James. “My first day, my first job, my first machine outside of the Navy was a dual turret, dual spindle Mori. The owner just put me on it because he needed a body. Now it is what I love doing every day. I can’t say that I am a one-man operation, but I am the only full-time employee. I have a few part-time people who assist when needed. Mark is here almost every day, honestly, he is the hardest working person I’ve ever met, he gets 7 hours of work done in the three hours he is here. And it doesn’t need to be said, but he has been such a big part of this journey, and I appreciate everything he does and has done for me and Watts Engineering. Joseph has fired up his own business and is out there running the GenTurn lathe, allowing my focus to be the Kitamuras and the busincess. I also have a Dylan who works full-time next door and when he is done with his day job, he comes overs to help with maintenance, deburring, and basic stuff. We are a team even though officially it’s just me.
From left to right: Various Gas Turbine components made from L-605, Inconel 718, and Inconel 713. The middle three are various torque sensor components that run in Motorport including Formula E, WEC, and Formula 1, all produced from 7075 on the Trak TC820si Lathe, HX250ig and MedCenter 5AX. The far right is a completely assembled Clutch Torque sensor for Formula 1. All machined components (4 parts total) are made here.