Swiss Turning Cost Per Part
What Swiss-turned parts actually cost — from the shop floor, not a quoting algorithm.
Shop rates for Swiss turning
Swiss lathes run between $60 and $120 per hour in the US market. That range is wide because it covers very different operations. A simple brass fitting on a Citizen L20 with no live tooling, running 303 stainless at 4,000 RPM, might run at $65/hour in a competitive Midwest shop. A medical bone screw in titanium on a Star SR-38 with 11 axes, B-axis milling, and in-process gauging — that's $110-120/hour in a shop with ISO 13485 and cleanroom packaging.
The hourly rate is not the cost of the machine. It's the loaded cost of the machine, the operator, the programming, quality overhead, shop burden, and profit. A new Citizen L32 costs $350-450K. A Star SR-20 with full milling is $300-400K. The bar feeder adds $30-60K. Tooling for a new job setup runs $2-8K depending on complexity. All of that gets amortized into the hourly rate.
What drives per-piece cost
Cycle time is the dominant cost driver. A 45-second cycle at $85/hour = $1.06 per part in machine time. A 3-minute cycle at the same rate = $4.25. The difference between a $1 part and a $4 part is usually not the material or the setup — it's the cycle time.
Four things determine cycle time on a Swiss lathe:
Length-to-diameter ratio. Swiss lathes exist because of L:D ratio. A 0.125" diameter pin that's 3" long is a natural Swiss part — the guide bushing supports the bar close to the cut, preventing deflection. That same part on a conventional lathe would chatter. But L:D also affects cycle time: longer parts mean more Z-axis travel, more passes, more time.
Number of operations. A part that needs OD turning, cross-drilling, thread whirling, and knurling in one cycle will take 2-4x longer than a straight OD turn with a cutoff. The advantage of Swiss is doing all of this in one setup — but each operation adds cycle time. Parts with 8-12 operations are common in medical and aerospace.
Material. 12L14 free-machining steel runs at 6,000+ SFM with carbide. Inconel 718 runs at 80-120 SFM. That's a 50:1 speed difference. A 30-second cycle in brass might be a 4-minute cycle in titanium, same geometry. Material cost compounds this — titanium bar stock is $25-60/lb vs $1-2/lb for 12L14.
Tolerance. Standard Swiss tolerance is ±0.0005" on diameters, ±0.001" on lengths. Tightening to ±0.0002" on a critical diameter doesn't just slow the machine — it changes the process. You're adding in-process gauging, reducing feed rates, probably running at 60-70% of normal speed. The tolerance callout on one feature can double the cost of the entire part.
Setup cost
Swiss setup takes 2-8 hours depending on the job. A repeat job with saved offsets and pre-staged tooling might set up in 90 minutes. A new job with custom guide bushings, 12 tool stations, and live tooling alignment takes a full shift. At $85/hour, setup ranges from $170 to $680.
Setup cost per part depends entirely on volume. A 4-hour setup on 100 parts = $34/part in setup alone. The same setup on 10,000 parts = $0.034/part. This is why Swiss turning economics favor volumes above 500 pieces. Below that, the setup cost dominates.
Typical per-piece costs
These are production-realistic ranges for Midwest US shops in 2025-2026:
| Part type | Material | Cycle time | Per piece (1K) | Per piece (10K) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple pin, no features | 303 SS | 15-25s | $0.80-1.40 | $0.45-0.75 |
| Connector pin, cross-hole + thread | Brass | 30-50s | $1.20-2.50 | $0.65-1.20 |
| Medical bone screw | Ti-6Al-4V | 90-180s | $8-18 | $5-12 |
| Hydraulic valve spool | 4140 steel | 60-120s | $3.50-7.00 | $2.00-4.00 |
| Aerospace fastener, thread whirl | Inconel 718 | 120-240s | $12-28 | $8-18 |
These prices include machine time, operator burden, material, and standard quality inspection. They do not include special certifications (AS9100, ISO 13485), Cpk requirements, first article inspection, or packaging. Those add 10-30% depending on requirements.
When Swiss turning is the wrong choice
Parts over 1.25" diameter generally don't belong on a Swiss lathe — conventional CNC turning is cheaper. Parts with fewer than 500 pieces rarely justify the setup cost unless they're high-value (medical, aerospace). Parts that don't need the guide bushing support — short, stocky parts with L:D under 3:1 — run fine on a chucker at a lower hourly rate.
The sweet spot for Swiss economics: 0.060" to 1.000" diameter, L:D ratio above 4:1, volumes above 1,000 pieces, multiple operations that would otherwise require secondary setups.
How to get accurate pricing
Send a print with material callout, tolerance callout, quantity, and annual usage. The annual usage matters because it tells the shop whether to invest in optimized tooling. A shop quoting 1,000 pieces will price differently than the same shop quoting 1,000/month for 3 years. The recurring volume justifies better tooling, tighter cycle times, and lower per-piece pricing.
Don't ask for "ballpark pricing" without a print. Every variable matters. A shop that quotes without seeing the geometry is guessing — and they'll pad the quote to cover the unknown.