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.
Turned Hardware for the Defense Engineering Capital of Macomb County
Few cities concentrate ground vehicle engineering the way Sterling Heights does. General Dynamics Land Systems runs its headquarters here, BAE Systems bases its US combat vehicle business a few miles up Van Dyke and the Detroit Arsenal with the Army's Ground Vehicle Systems Center sits just south in Warren. That density of program offices and test engineers means the RFQs coming out of Sterling Heights are unusually specific: MIL spec callouts, cadmium free plating notes and connector pin drawings with true position under a thousandth.
Automotive keeps the other half of the city busy. Stellantis builds trucks at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant and feeds it from Sterling Stamping Plant, while Ford converted its Van Dyke site into the Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center. Electrified drivetrains multiply the small turned content per vehicle, from resolver shafts and busbar standoffs to coolant fittings, and the launch teams validating those systems need pilot quantities fast, not a container from overseas in twelve weeks.
Swiss turning fits both worlds because the guide bushing supports the bar at the point of cut, so slender parts with length to diameter ratios past 20 to 1 come off straight and concentric within 0.0002 inches TIR. Live tooling and a sub spindle finish cross holes, flats and back work in one setup, which is how a bar fed run of 10,000 contact pins holds print from the first piece to the last.
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.
Where Swiss Machining Fits in Sterling Heights
From prototypes to bar-fed production, this is Sterling Heights's Swiss workload.
Defense & Ground Vehicles
Combat vehicle programs engineered around General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE Systems and the Ground Vehicle Systems Center consume turned hardware in every subsystem: electrical connectors, hydraulic controls, fuel handling and vetronics sensors. RivCut Swiss turns contact pins from beryllium copper and brass, valve spools from 17-4 PH and 4140 and sensor housings from 303 and 316L stainless, with full material traceability, mill certs and first article reports for suppliers working to defense QA flowdowns. ITAR controlled work stays documented and domestic.
Automotive & EV Powertrain
Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, Sterling Stamping Plant and the Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center anchor a supplier network that lives on turned pins, fittings and shafts. Electrification adds new Swiss friendly content: resolver and rotor shafts, insulated busbar standoffs, coolant quick connect fittings and press fit terminal pins. We run pilot builds of 50 pieces for launch validation and bar fed production past 100,000 pieces for parts that make it onto the vehicle, with PPAP level dimensional reports when the program requires them.
Tooling, Automation & Test Equipment
Macomb County is thick with tool and die, gage and automation shops that support the assembly plants and defense primes, and their fixtures wear out small precision components on a schedule. Gage pins, ejector components, locating dowels, probe tips and pneumatic ferrules all match Swiss lathe geometry under 1.5 inches in diameter. RivCut machines replacements from 440C, A2 and hardened 17-4 PH to print, often from a worn sample and a sketch, so a down fixture is not waiting on an OEM part number. Ra 16 microinch finishes come straight off the machine.
What Sterling Heights Engineers Ask Us
Everything Sterling Heights buyers ask before the first PO.
Swiss Machining Beyond Sterling Heights
Swiss Precision, Delivered to Sterling Heights
From first article to bar-fed production, quoting for Sterling Heights starts with one CAD upload.