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Why slender parts are machined on Swiss-type lathes
A guide bushing supports the bar right at the cutting point, which is what lets a long thin shaft come off the machine straight.
On a conventional lathe the workpiece is held at one end and cut some distance away, so a slender part deflects under the tool. The longer and thinner it is, the worse the deflection, and the result is a shaft that tapers or chatters.
A Swiss-type machine feeds the bar through a guide bushing and cuts immediately alongside it. The support is always at the cut, regardless of how far along the part the tool has travelled, so the deflection that causes taper never develops.
The second advantage is driven tooling in-cycle. Cross holes, flats and threads are produced in the same setup as the turning, so the features never accumulate the error that comes from unclamping and re-fixturing. That is why a Swiss-turned part is usually more accurate feature-to-feature than one made to the same drawing on a lathe plus a mill.
Specifications
| Guide bushing | Supports the bar at the cutting point |
|---|---|
| Driven tooling | Cross holes and flats cut in the same setup |
| Result | No taper from deflection, no error from re-fixturing |
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