FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS (DETAILS 2) $ in Thousands, SFr in Millions	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2011 Rate	Dec. 31, 2010 Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 CNY (¥)	Oct. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2014 CNY (¥)	Jan. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 07, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 07, 2014 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2013 CNY (¥)	Jul. 31, 2013 USD ($) Rate	Jul. 31, 2013 CHF (SFr) Rate	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2010 CHF (SFr)	Dec. 31, 2009 USD ($) Rate	Oct. 31, 2009 USD ($) Rate	Oct. 31, 2009 CHF (SFr) Rate
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes		$ 77,200
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need		54,100
Variable interest rate debt		11,771	$ 16,225
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		7,400	8,700
Letters of credit outstanding amount pertaining to self insured workers compensation exposure		700	800
Interest Paid		300	$ 800	$ 1,000
Taiwan Unsecured Credit Facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes															$ 12,000
Interest rate (as a percent) | Rate			1.44%
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding		$ 0
Jiaxing Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes				$ 5,300								$ 9,100	¥ 59,000,000.0	¥ 34,200,000.0
Interest rate (as a percent)		4.79%	6.16%
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate		10.00%
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding		$ 3,100					¥ 20,000,000
Kellenberger HH-GmbH revolving credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes															18,000	SFr 18.0
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need															8,000	8.0
Interest rate (as a percent) | Rate		2.25%
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		$ 5,400
Debt Instrument, Collateral Amount															$ 9,200	SFr 9.2
Debt instrument covenant equity as a percentage of total assets | Rate															35.00%	35.00%
Kellenberger credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																		$ 9,000	SFr 9.0		$ 7,000	SFr 7.0
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need																		5,000	5.0		3,000	3.0
Interest rate (as a percent) | Rate		2.50%
Variable interest rate debt		$ 0
Debt Instrument, Collateral Amount																		$ 4,000	SFr 4.0		$ 3,000	SFr 3.0
Debt instrument covenant equity as a percentage of total assets | Rate																					35.00%	35.00%
HCL Credit Facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes								$ 3,000			$ 2,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		$ 900					6,000,000
Debt Instrument, Collateral Amount											$ 22,000
Domestic Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																	$ 25,000			$ 10,000
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate | Rate		2.50%	2.44%	2.75%	3.50%	5.00%
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		$ 0	$ 0
Line of credit facility percentage of investments pledged | Rate																				65.00%
Unsecured domestic credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes		3,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		$ 0	0
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage Rate Range, Minimum | Rate		5.00%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage Rate Range, Maximum | Rate		16.00%
Hardinge Machine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Credit Facility, Expiring August 2016 [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes	$ 4,600								¥ 30,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding		$ 100	$ 100				¥ 600,000			¥ 700,000
Collateral cash deposit requirement, percent	30.00%
Jiaxing Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need				$ 3,100										¥ 20,000,000