{"id":21996,"date":"2023-08-29T15:39:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T12:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/?p=21996"},"modified":"2024-01-26T13:03:11","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T11:03:11","slug":"swiss-machining-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/swiss-machining-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss Machining Explained – What Is a Swiss Lathe?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swiss machining, also known as Swiss turning, is a high-precision CNC machining process<\/a> performed on a special type of turning machine designed specifically to produce small and intricate parts.<\/p>\n

Swiss lathes operate with incredibly small tolerances at shorter cycle times than conventional lathes, making them an attractive option for manufacturing complex parts at larger volumes.<\/p>\n

Let’s delve into the fundamentals of this cutting-edge turning process<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Is Swiss Machining<\/h2>\n

Swiss lathes were originally designed by Swiss watchmaker Jakob Schweizer to produce extremely small parts for the watchmaking industry. The first Swiss-style lathe was developed in the 1870s but it started gaining popularity in other industries in the 1960s thanks to its high precision and low margin of error.<\/p>\n

In a CNC Swiss machine, the sliding headstock advances a segment of the metal stock through the guide bushing. The rest of the workpiece is held firmly within the chuck behind the guide bushing and is not directly exposed to the tooling area.<\/p>\n

As the machining of a section of the workpiece is finished, the bar stock is moved forward along the z-axis allowing for the machining of another section. This segmented approach allows the parts to be turned rapidly and tightly as this eliminates part deflection under strong cutting forces and increases the accuracy.<\/p>\n

Most Swiss-style lathes today use one or two main spindles plus one or two secondary back spindles. The main spindle is used for the majority of machining operations. The secondary spindle is located behind the part and its operation generally involves picking up the part as it is cut off and performing a variety of secondary operations, such as drilling or tapping the side of the workpiece that was unaccessible prior to parting.<\/p>\n

After the completion of these operations, the secondary spindle then ejects the completed part into a bin, eliminating the need to have an operator manually change each part, as is often the case with standard CNC turning machines.<\/p>\n

As far as the materials go, Swiss lathes are generally used for metals (carbon steel, aluminium, stainless steel<\/a>, brass, etc.), sometimes plastics (nylon, polycarbonate and others), and not so much for wood.<\/p>\n

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