What Is Swiss CNC Machining?
Swiss CNC machining (also known as Swiss screw machining or sliding headstock turning) feeds bar stock through a stationary guide bushing directly adjacent to the cutting tool. Because the material is supported right where the cut happens, deflection and vibration are eliminated — allowing ultra-tight tolerances, micro features, and length-to-diameter aspect ratios over 20:1 that conventional CNC lathes cannot achieve.
Bar Stock Feeds Through Guide Bushing
The raw bar feeds through a carbide-lined guide bushing, providing zero-clearance support right next to the cutting insert.
Sliding Headstock Moves Along Z-Axis
Instead of moving the cutting tool along the part, the headstock advances the bar past fixed gang tooling, maintaining maximum rigidity.
Live Tooling & Sub-Spindle Dual Machining
Cross-milling, axial drilling, threads, and back-side features are completed in a single setup before parting off the finished part.
Certification-First Turned Parts for Salem, OR
Quality documentation is the real gatekeeper in Salem purchasing. Garmin's avionics operation on Turner Road designs, certifies and builds GPS navigators, radios and transponders, and any turned hardware that feeds that supply chain inherits FAA-grade expectations: full material traceability, first article inspection and dimensional records that survive an audit years later. A machined pin without a cert trail is scrap in that world, no matter how round it is.
The Willamette Valley side of the economy asks a different question with the same seriousness. Food processors like NORPAC's successor operations and the packaging lines that serve valley growers spec 316L and sanitary finishes, and Salem Health's scale supports a regional orbit of lab and device work where ISO 13485-style traceability is table stakes. Swiss turning fits all of it because the guide bushing holds the bar at the cut, so a 20:1 length-to-diameter probe shaft comes off straight, finished near Ra 16 microinches and documented.
RivCut serves Salem from our Union City, CA shop, about one to two business days by ground up I-5. Every lot ships with EN 10204 3.1 mill certs on request, and AS9102 first article reports are a checkbox on the quote, not a negotiation.
Engineered for Micro-Precision & High Volume
From single medical prototypes to automated 100,000+ piece production runs — built for zero defect manufacturing.
±0.0001" Micro Tolerance
Holding ultra-precise concentricity, diameter, and thread pitch tolerances on slender pins, shafts, and medical implants where standard lathes fail.
Single-Setup Completion
Multi-axis live tooling and sub-spindles handle turning, off-center milling, cross-drilling, hex broaching, and thread whirling with zero secondary setups.
Superior Ra 16 Surface Finish
Rigid guide bushing support eliminates chatter and micro-vibration, consistently producing mirror-smooth Ra 16 µin (0.4 µm) turned surfaces as-machined.
Lights-Out Production Savings
Automatic bar feeders and continuous chip management allow 24/7 un-attended operation, dramatically lowering unit costs for mid-to-high volume orders.
Swiss Machining Services Suite
Sliding headstock capabilities engineered for challenging small-diameter components.
Micro-Miniature Turning
Machining small-diameter components down to 0.020" (0.5 mm) with tight features, internal bores, and miniature threads for medical instruments and micro-valves.
Down to 0.5 mm barHigh L/D Ratio Slender Shafts
Turning long, slender shafts and pins with length-to-diameter ratios up to 20:1 without chatter, taper, or deflection.
L/D up to 20:1Multi-Axis Live Tooling
Up to 12 axes with motorized driven tools for off-center milling, keyways, cross-drilled passages, hex flats, and helical thread whirling.
Up to 12-axis liveDual-Spindle Sub-Machining
Synchronized pick-off sub-spindle finishes the back end of the part—chamfering, counterboring, and tapping—delivering 100% complete parts off the line.
100% finished partsMedical & Implant Machining
Precision turning of Titanium Ti-6Al-4V ELI bone screws, dental implant posts, orthopedic pins, and endoscope tips with ISO 13485 quality control.
Titanium & 316L medicalHigh-Volume Bar Fed Runs
Automated 12ft bar loaders, high-pressure coolant (2,000 PSI), and automated part catchers support fast production runs from 500 to 100,000+ pieces.
500 to 100,000+ pcs
Titanium Grade 5 Dental Implant Post & Bone Screw
Swiss turned for a medical device manufacturer requiring intricate thread geometry, micro-cannulation through-holes, and tight hex drive features. Machined in a single operation with zero hand deburring required.
tolerance held
surface finish
turnaround
2,500-piece run
- Optical comparator & CMM dimensional inspection report
- Mill test certs (EN 10204 3.1) with heat lot traceability
- Passivation certs per ASTM A967 / ASTM F86
- Certificate of Conformance per medical purchase order
Swiss Turning vs. Standard Lathe vs. CNC Milling
Choose the right manufacturing method based on geometry, tolerances, and batch size.
Stocked Materials for Swiss Turning
Precision ground round bar stock in metals, medical alloys, and engineering plastics.
Titanium Alloys
Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5), Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Grade 23), Commercially Pure Titanium (Grade 2). Ideal for biocompatible implants, dental screws, and aerospace pins.
Stainless Steels
303, 304/304L, 316/316L, 17-4 PH, 440C, Custom 455. Excellent corrosion resistance, high tensile strength, and medical compliance.
Copper & Brass Alloys
C36000 Free-Cutting Brass, C17200 Beryllium Copper, Tellurium Copper C14500. Perfect for gold-plated electrical contacts and probe tips.
Specialty & Superalloys
Inconel 718, Kovar, Nitronic 60, Hastelloy C-276, Nitinol. High-temperature and controlled-expansion applications for aerospace and energy.
Medical Plastics
PEEK (Unfilled & 30% Glass Filled), Delrin (POM-H), PTFE (Teflon), Ultem 1000, Torlon 4203. Biocompatible, autoclavable, and dimensionally stable.
Alloy & Tool Steels
4140, 4340, A2, D2, M2 tool steel. High wear resistance and toughness after vacuum heat treating for mechanical shafts and dowels.
DFM Tips for Swiss Turned Parts
Optimize your 3D CAD models and drawings for maximum Swiss machining efficiency.
1. Precision Ground Bar Stock
Because the bar slides through a guide bushing, use h8 diameter tolerance precision ground bar stock to prevent binding or loose play.
2. Thread Relief Grooves
Provide a thread relief necking groove at thread shoulders (minimum 1.5x thread pitch) to allow clean single-point thread tool retraction.
3. Corner Radii & Chamfers
Specify internal corner radii of at least R 0.010" (0.25 mm) and external 45° lead-in chamfers to ease automated tool engagement and deburring.
Swiss Turned Parts for Salem Industries
The work Salem engineers quote most often, by industry.
Avionics & Aerospace Electronics
Garmin AT's Salem campus and the electronics suppliers around it consume exactly the part family Swiss lathes were built for: gold-plated contact pins, connector bodies, RF housings, EMI shield standoffs and antenna mount ferrules. These parts run small, 0.030 to 0.5 inch diameters in brass, beryllium copper, 303 stainless and aluminum, and they carry concentricity callouts of 0.0002 inches TIR so mated connectors seat without wiping plating. RivCut bar-feeds them by the thousand with live tooling handling flats, cross holes and slots in one setup.
Food Processing & Agricultural Equipment
Willamette Valley processors run canning, freezing and packaging lines around the clock in season, and downtime waits for no purchase order. The wear items are Swiss-shaped: valve spools, spray nozzle bodies, dosing fittings, sensor housings and slender conveyor shafts in 316L, 17-4 PH and PEEK. We machine replacements to print or reverse-engineer from a worn sample, holding sanitary surface finishes as machined so parts go into washdown service without secondary polishing.
Medical & Laboratory
Salem Health is the largest private employer in the city, and the clinical and lab ecosystem around it, plus device developers trained through Chemeketa Community College's technical programs, generates steady micro-turning demand. Luer fittings, cannulated pins, electrode bodies, instrument shafts and PEEK insulators under 0.5 inches in diameter are core Swiss work. RivCut runs 316L, titanium and medical-grade polymers with lot-level material traceability, so a device history file has the records it needs from the first prototype onward.
Salem Swiss Machining Questions
Answers on quoting, materials and delivery to Salem.
Swiss Turning Around Salem
Ready to Quote Your Salem Swiss Project?
Send a STEP file and a print. We review the geometry, confirm guide bushing setup and ship finished parts to Salem.