Schütte SC 6

For a typical watch pivot shaft (2.5 mm diameter, stainless, 5 turning operations): CNC Swiss lathe cycle time approximately 18-30 seconds = 120-200 parts/hour. Schütte SC 6 at 6 simultaneous spindles: 4-8 second cycle per station = 450-900 parts/hour. Throughput advantage: 3-5x. For simpler components (2-3 operations), the advantage reaches 4-6x. At 500,000 parts/year, the SC 6 completes the program in approximately 550-1,100 machine hours vs 2,500-4,200 hours for a single Swiss lathe — effectively replacing 3-4 Swiss lathes with one SC 6 at lower overall floor space and operator headcount.

Yes. The SC 6 achieves positioning accuracy of 0.003 mm and diameter repeatability within 0.002-0.005 mm in production conditions for balance staff and pivot components. Swiss watch movement standards typically specify shaft diameter tolerances of ±0.003-0.005 mm for pivots running in jeweled bearings, and roundness under 0.002 mm for journal sections. The SC 6 meets these requirements provided tooling is maintained to manufacturer standards, coolant delivery is properly configured, and thermal stabilization is achieved at run temperature. Schütte provides watchmaking-specific application support for achieving movement-grade tolerances.

The SC 6 at 6 mm handles: free-machining brass (CW614N, CuZn39Pb3) — primary watchmaking material for wheels, pinions, and plates; 316L stainless steel for medical micro-components and food-contact hardware; titanium grade 2 and 5 for medical implant screws and aerospace fasteners; aluminum 2011 and 6061 for precision connectors and instrument housings; free-machining steels (1215, 12L14) for general hardware; beryllium copper for electrical contact components; and specialty watchmaking alloys including Glucydur (beryllium-copper-iron) for balance wheels. Material hardness and work-hardening characteristics at 6 mm require careful tool selection — Schütte application engineers provide material-specific tooling recommendations.

Schütte SC 6 vs Tornos EvoDECO 10: The EvoDECO 10 is a sliding-head CNC lathe (single spindle) with maximum bar capacity of 10 mm. For small-batch, high-mix micro-parts below 10 mm, the EvoDECO 10 offers greater setup flexibility — changeovers in 1-2 hours vs 3-6 hours for the SC 6. For high-volume, lower-mix production (100,000+ parts per run), the SC 6's 6-spindle parallelism produces 3-5x more parts per hour. The SC 6 also has a hard 6 mm bar limit vs EvoDECO's 10 mm. The decision maps to production strategy: job shop flexibility favors EvoDECO, dedicated high-volume production favors SC 6.

SC 6 programming is performed using Schütte's S-CAS (CNC Automatic Synchronization) software for offline program development and simulation, with proven post-processors for common CAD/CAM systems. The programmer assigns operations to stations 1-6, balancing cycle time across spindles to minimize the bottleneck station time. Siemens 840D or Fanuc 30i cycles are used for standard operations (drilling, threading, profiling). Synchronization is managed by the S-CAS system, which prevents axis collisions during drum indexing. Typical programming time: 2-4 hours for a medium-complexity part. Schütte provides application training at the factory in Cologne and at regional technical centers.