What are Swiss-type lathes and sliding headstock lathes?
Both Swiss-type lathes and CNC sliding headstock lathes belong to the category of CNC horizontal lathes. Traditional CNC lathes primarily use a sliding headstock mode, hence the name “sliding headstock lathe.” The product’s clamping position remains constant during a single operation, preventing multiple feeds. Machining is achieved solely through the rotation of the spindle’s C-axis and the Z/X/Y movement of the tool post. For long-shaft products, only a center pin supporting the end face and an additional follow-tool support can be used, making it difficult to achieve ideal accuracy and complete the product’s process requirements in a single pass.
A Swiss-type lathe, also known as a sliding headstock CNC lathe, is a type of CNC lathe with a moving spindle head. The sliding headstock mode originated in Switzerland and is internationally known as the Swiss Precision Automatic Lathe. Most Swiss-type lathes perform longitudinal turning, hence the name “longitudinal turning CNC lathe” in the Chinese market. Because standard configurations of CNC Swiss-type lathes include a side power head, they can also perform milling processes, thus also being called a Swiss-type milling-turning lathe.
What are the differences between a Swiss-type CNC lathe and a CNC sliding headstock lathe?
Both Swiss-type CNC lathes and CNC sliding headstock lathes belong to the category of CNC horizontal lathes. Traditional CNC lathes primarily use a sliding headstock mode, hence the name. The product’s clamping position remains constant during a single feed, preventing multiple feeds. Machining is achieved solely through spindle C-axis rotation and tool post Z/X/Y movement. For long shaft products, only a center pin supporting the end face and an additional tool follower can be used, making it difficult to achieve ideal accuracy and complete the product’s process requirements in a single pass.
Swiss-type CNC lathes, on the other hand, keep the tool in a fixed position. Machining is achieved through spindle Z-axis forward/backward movement and C-axis rotation. Multiple feeds are supported, and theoretically, the length of a single product can reach the maximum length of a single piece of material supported by the feeder.
Therefore, compared to sliding headstock lathes, during turning, the bar stock is fed axially through a central guide bushing, and the cutting point of the tool is close to the end of the guide bushing. This provides better rigidity, eliminates deformation of the bar stock under the cutting pressure of the tool, and ensures the accuracy of the parts. It has an absolute advantage in machining slender shaft parts.
Slippery headstock lathes are generally used for machining small, high-volume bar stock parts that require one-time machining. Because the structure of slippery headstock lathes differs from traditional CNC lathes, their machining efficiency and accuracy are higher. Slippery headstock lathes use a dual-axis tool arrangement, a design that significantly saves machining cycle time. By shortening the tool exchange time between the tool rack and the opposing tool table, it achieves multiple tool table overlaps and effective axis movement overlap for thread cutting. The direct spindle indexing function during secondary machining also shortens idle travel time.
Slippery headstock lathes can also be equipped with automatic feeding devices to achieve fully automated production on a single machine, reducing labor costs and defective products during production. They can be used to produce large quantities of precision shaft parts. Generally, a feeder passes the bar stock through the spindle’s through-hole, and the collet automatically clamps it. If the part has a long overhang, a center is needed. If the tail section needs machining, a second spindle is required. If equally spaced holes need to be machined, a power tool holder and spindle indexing are needed.
For any part that a Swiss-type lathe can machine, its machining accuracy and speed are unmatched by sliding headstock lathes! The main advantages are as follows:
1: A single setup without stopping the spindle allows for machining parts over 200mm in length. If you are machining a 5mm long part, both sliding and Swiss-type lathes can be used, but a Swiss-type lathe can machine 20-30 parts in one go before needing to stop and reload.
2: A Swiss-type lathe always cuts at the closest possible position to the material, resulting in excellent rigidity. Imagine how rigid it is when the cutting tool is only a few millimeters away from the clamping point after clamping the part.
- Swiss-type lathes are all integrated milling and turning machines, and the complexity of machining in a single operation is incomparable to that of traditional sliding head lathes. There were older automatic lathes, commonly known as cam lathes. Now, the more advanced CNC automatic lathes are called Swiss-type lathes or longitudinal lathes. The main feature is that the spindle moves forward and backward in the Z-axis, while the cutting tool can move in the X and Y axes, enabling three-dimensional machining and one-time forming.
