The technology that enables HTT to produce parts like this bonescrew in a single setup has roots in decades of previous advancements.
Nestled among the array of Swiss-type lathes at High Tech Turning (HTT) are a couple of L-16s from Marubeni Citizen-Cincom. Purchased in the mid-'90s, these aging machines' glory days are long past (they’re now used mostly for simpler work and training). However, they hearken back to a significant turning point for this Boston-area job shop—an era when, armed for the first time with subspindles and live tools, the company began to implement single-setup production for parts that previously required multiple operations on multiple machines.
The potential of this capability wasn't lost on other manufacturers, many of which had already installed similar machines by the time the shop purchased its first L-16. By that point, however, HTT had been reaping the benefits of Swiss turning for nearly a decade. And the shop would continue to upgrade its capabilities throughout the next 20 years, just as increasing numbers of first-time adopters entered the fray with increasingly sophisticated Swiss-type equipment. This history has provided HTT with uncommon insight into how the Swiss-type platform has evolved from niche product to go-to solution for done-in-one production of small, precision parts. Click here to learn more.
