b'SUCCESS Swiss-style machines are attracting plenty of buyers and might be right for you.By William LeventonS hops that decide to add a Swiss-style lathe to their machine line-ups join a large, growing club. But what accounts for the increasing popu-larity of Swiss-style machines? And if a shop hasnt jumped aboard the Swiss bandwagon, should a shop do so?First, the basics: A Swiss-style lathe is a turning machine that feeds stock through a guide bushing. A tool cuts the stock near the bushing, which is the support point, regardless of the length of the workpiece. This makes Swiss ma-chining a good choice for turning long, slender parts.The fact that the tools are so close to the guide bushing helps with rigid-ity, said Application Engineer Scott Pe-trisko of Absolute Machine Tools Inc. in Lorain, Ohio. On a conventional lathe, your zero point is away from the chuck and you have deflection issues.Swiss machines are a fine selection for making parts with length-to-diam-eter ratios greater than 3-1, as well as deep,small-diameterholes.Swiss-made parts are generally under 38 mm (1.5") in diameter, with 51 mm (2") being a commonly accepted threshold for Swiss machines can accommodate live tooling.CNC Softwarectemag.com/cteguide.com21Swiss.indd 21 8/14/20 4:21 PM'