Swiss Turning Cost Guide — What Drives Price

Cycle Time Is Everything

In Swiss turning, the price per part is dominated by cycle time. A 30-second cycle at $120/hour machine rate is $1.00 per part in machine time. A 90-second cycle is $3.00. Every feature you add, every tight tolerance you specify, every additional tool position used — it all adds seconds. The difference between a $0.80 part and a $2.50 part is often just 3–4 extra features.

Setup & Programming

First-article setup for a new Swiss part typically runs $500–$2,000 depending on complexity. This covers programming, tooling setup, first-article inspection, and process validation. Setup cost is amortized across the run — on a 10,000-piece order it's negligible. On a 50-piece prototype run it dominates. This is why Swiss work favors volume.

Material Cost

Bar stock cost varies enormously by material. C360 brass: ~$2–4/lb. 303 stainless: ~$4–8/lb. Titanium Grade 5: ~$25–50/lb. The material cost per part depends on the bar diameter and part length, plus the kerf loss from cutoff. Shops typically mark up material 15–30% to cover handling, remnants, and inventory carrying cost.

Tolerance Impact

Standard tolerances (±0.001" OD, ±0.002" lengths) add zero cost — the machine hits these naturally. Tighten to ±0.0005" and you may add a skim cut pass: +5–10 seconds. Tighten to ±0.0002" and you add skim cuts, slower feeds, and increased inspection: +15–30 seconds per part plus inspection sampling costs. Only specify tight tolerances on features that require them.

Volume Economics

Swiss is a volume process. The economics improve dramatically with quantity. A 100-piece run might cost $8–15 per part (setup dominates). A 10,000-piece run of the same part might be $1.50–3.00 per part. At 100,000 pieces the price asymptotes to material + cycle time + overhead. If you're quoting Swiss work, always provide your annual volume — it changes the number.

Secondary Operations

Parts that come off Swiss complete — no deburring, no secondary machining — cost less than parts requiring post-processing. Design for complete parts: chamfers instead of sharp edges, thread whirling instead of single-point (cleaner finish), sub-spindle back-end work instead of a second operation. Every time the part gets handled after the Swiss machine, cost goes up.