FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS (DETAILS) € in Millions, TWD in Millions, SFr in Millions				1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2013 CHF (SFr)	Nov. 30, 2013 EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 TWD Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 CHF (SFr) Rate	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2011 Rate	Dec. 31, 2010 Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 TWD Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 CHF (SFr) Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 EUR (€) Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 CNY (¥) Rate	Oct. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 CNY (¥)	Jul. 31, 2015 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2014 TWD	Dec. 31, 2014 CHF (SFr)	Dec. 31, 2014 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2014 CNY (¥)	Jan. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 07, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 07, 2014 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2013 CNY (¥)	Oct. 31, 2013 Rate	Jul. 31, 2013 USD ($) Rate	Jul. 31, 2013 CHF (SFr) Rate	May. 31, 2013 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 USD ($)	May. 31, 2006 USD ($)	May. 31, 2006 TWD
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes						$ 77,200,000
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity						69,800,000
Line of credit facility reamining capacity available for working captial						53,200,000
Debt, Long-term and Short-term, Combined Amount						11,800,000			$ 16,200,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Next Twelve Months						5,692,000
Current portion of long-term debt						(5,692,000)			(3,972,000)
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need						54,100,000
Variable interest rate debt						11,771,000			16,225,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount						7,400,000			8,700,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Two						3,023,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Three						3,056,000
Long-term debt						(6,079,000)			$ (12,253,000)
Taiwan mortgage loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt																																		$ 5,700,000	TWD 180.0
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment, Principal						$ 100,000	TWD 4.5
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate During Period | Rate						1.75%	1.75%	1.75%	1.75%
Basis spread added to base rate (as a percent)						0.40%	0.40%	0.40%
Variable interest rate debt						$ 300,000			$ 900,000				TWD 9.0							TWD 27.0
Mortgages [Member]
Long-term debt
Variable interest rate debt						2,070,000			2,965,000
Term Loans [Member]
Long-term debt
Variable interest rate debt						9,701,000			13,260,000
Forkardt term loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Next Twelve Months						$ 2,100,000
Long-term Debt																															$ 23,000,000
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment, Principal									$ 2,100,000
Basis spread added to base rate (as a percent) | Rate						2.56%	2.56%	2.56%	2.44%
Variable interest rate debt						$ 5,100,000			$ 6,800,000
Investment Owned, Pledged Flag | Rate																															65.00%
Debt instrument covenant fixed charge coverage ratio covenant compliance measured over specified period | Rate						115.00%	115.00%	115.00%
Debt instrument covenant current ratio | Rate						100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Debt instrument covenant maximum consolidated total leverage ratio covenant compliance measured over specified period | Rate						300.00%	300.00%	300.00%
Debt instrument covenant threshold on annual capital expenditures						$ 10,000,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Two						2,100,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Three						1,000,000
Mandatory principal payments as a percentage of net proceeds from sale of common stock | Rate																												25.00%			75.00%
USD denominated Forkardt term loan [Member] [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Conversion, Original Debt, Amount	$ 10,800,000
CHF denominated Forkardt term loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Next Twelve Months						$ 600,000								SFr 0.6
Basis spread added to base rate (as a percent) | Rate						2.25%	2.25%	2.25%	2.27%
Variable interest rate debt						$ 600,000			$ 1,200,000					0.6							SFr 1.2
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Amount	3,800,000	SFr 3.8
EUR denominated Forkardt term loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Next Twelve Months						$ 1,000,000									€ 0.9
Basis spread added to base rate (as a percent) | Rate						2.18%	2.18%	2.18%	2.46%
Variable interest rate debt						$ 4,000,000			$ 5,300,000						3.7							€ 4.4
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Amount	$ 5,400,000		€ 5.0
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Two						2,000,000									€ 1.9
Kellenberger mortgage loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																													$ 2,600,000	SFr 2.6
Long-term Debt, Percentage Bearing Fixed Interest, Percentage Rate | Rate																													2.50%	2.50%
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment, Principal						200,000		SFr 0.2
Variable interest rate debt						1,800,000								1.8
Kellenberger previous mortgage loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Variable interest rate debt						$ 2,100,000								SFr 2.1
Kellenberger HH-GmbH revolving credit facility [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument covenant equity as a percentage of total assets | Rate						35.00%							35.00%	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
Jiaxing Line of Credit [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need										$ 3,100,000																	¥ 20,000,000
HCL Credit Facility [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																	$ 3,000,000							$ 2,000,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount						$ 900,000										¥ 6,000,000
Domestic Line of Credit [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																																$ 25,000,000	$ 10,000,000
Basis spread added to base rate (as a percent) | Rate						2.50%	2.50%	2.50%	2.44%	2.75%	3.50%	5.00%
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount						$ 0			$ 0
Jiaxing Line of Credit [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes										$ 5,300,000															$ 9,100,000	¥ 59,000,000.0	¥ 34,200,000.0
Interest rate (as a percent)						4.79%	4.79%	4.79%	6.16%
Basis spread added to base rate (as a percent)						10.00%	10.00%	10.00%
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding						$ 3,100,000										20,000,000
Unsecured domestic credit facility [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes						3,000,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount						0			$ 0
Taiwan Unsecured Credit Facility [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																													$ 12,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent) | Rate									1.44%
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding						0
Line of Credit [Member] | Hardinge Machine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Credit Facility, Expiring August 2016 [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes				$ 4,600,000														¥ 30,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding						$ 100,000			$ 100,000							¥ 600,000							¥ 700,000
Collateral cash deposit requirement, percent				30.00%
Line of Credit [Member] | Hardinge Machine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Credit Facility, Expiring July 2016 [Member] [Member]
Long-term debt
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes					$ 1,540,000														¥ 10,000,000
Collateral cash deposit requirement, percent					100.00%