FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS (DETAILS 2) € 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, 2013 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2009 Rate	Oct. 31, 2009 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2016 TWD Rate	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Rate	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 TWD	Dec. 31, 2016 CHF (SFr)	Dec. 31, 2016 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2016 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2015 CHF (SFr)	Dec. 31, 2015 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2015 CNY (¥)	Oct. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 CNY (¥)	Jan. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2014 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2013 CHF (SFr) Rate	May 31, 2013 USD ($) Rate	Oct. 31, 2009 CHF (SFr) Rate	May 31, 2006 USD ($)	May 31, 2006 TWD
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes								$ 74,700,000.0
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need								53,000,000
Remaining borrowing capacity								67,100,000
Line of credit facility reamining capacity available for working captial								51,900,000
Term borrowings outstanding								5,900,000		$ 11,600,000
Variable interest rate debt								5,893,000		11,606,000
Letters of credit outstanding amount pertaining to self insured workers compensation exposure								700,000
Interest paid								400,000		300,000	$ 800,000
Long-term debt, maturities, repayments of principal in next twelve months								2,993,000
Long-term debt, maturities, repayments of principal in year two								2,993,000
Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								700,000
Taiwan Unsecured Credit Facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes					$ 12,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								$ 0
Interest rate (as a percent)								1.40%	1.40%
Variable interest rate debt								$ 700,000				TWD 22,000,000
Line of credit facility, commitment fee amount					0
Jiaxing Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes								2,900,000							¥ 20,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								$ 0		0
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable Rate								10.00%	10.00%
Interest rate (as a percent)								4.79%	4.79%
Kellenberger HH-GmbH revolving credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes					17,661,600.0000																			SFr 18,000,000
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need					7,800,000																			8,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								$ 0		0
Interest rate (as a percent) | Rate								2.25%	2.25%
Letters of credit outstanding, amount								$ 5,000,000		5,400,000
Debt instrument, collateral amount					$ 9,000,000																			SFr 9,200,000
Debt instrument covenant equity as a percentage of total assets | Rate					35.00%																			35.00%
Line of credit facility, unused capacity, commitment fee percentage					30.00%
Kellenberger credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes							$ 6,868,400.0000																			SFr 7,000,000
Borrowing capacity available for working capital need							2,900,000																			3,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent) | Rate								2.50%	2.50%
Debt instrument, term								90 days	90 days
Letters of credit outstanding, amount								$ 200,000					SFr 200,000			SFr 0
Variable interest rate debt								0		0
Debt instrument, collateral amount							$ 2,900,000																			SFr 3,000,000
Debt instrument covenant equity as a percentage of total assets | Rate							35.00%																			35.00%
Line of credit facility, commitment fee amount							$ 0
HCL Credit Facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																			$ 3,000,000.0
Letters of credit outstanding, amount								600,000		900,000					4,200,000			¥ 6,000,000
Debt instrument, collateral amount																					$ 3,200,000	¥ 22,000,000
Domestic Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes																							$ 25,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								$ 0		$ 0
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable Rate | Rate								2.94%	2.94%	2.50%
Letters of credit outstanding, amount								$ 1,100,000		$ 900,000
Line of credit facility percentage of investments pledged | Rate						65.00%
Line of credit facility, unused capacity, commitment fee percentage						0.25%
Unsecured domestic credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes								3,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								$ 0		$ 0
Debt Instrument, interest rate, stated percentage rate range, minimum | Rate								5.00%	5.00%
Debt instrument, interest rate, stated percentage rate range, maximum | Rate								16.00%	16.00%
Line of credit facility, commitment fee amount								$ 0
Taiwan mortgage loan [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Long-term debt																											$ 5,562,000.000	TWD 180,000,000.0
Required periodic principal payment								$ 100,000	TWD 4,500,000
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable Rate								0.40%	0.40%
Variable interest rate debt								$ 300,000				TWD 9,000,000
Debt instrument, interest rate during period | Rate								1.75%	1.75%	1.75%
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				$ 4,320,000.00																¥ 30,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								$ 100,000							¥ 600,000
Collateral cash deposit requirement, percent				30.00%
Forkardt term loan [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Long-term debt																									$ 23,000,000
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable Rate | Rate								2.81%	2.81%	2.50%
Variable interest rate debt								$ 3,100,000		$ 5,100,000
Long-term debt, maturities, repayments of principal in next twelve months								2,100,000
Principal repayments								$ 1,000,000
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%
Debt instrument covenant current ratio | Rate								100.00%	100.00%
Debt instrument covenant maximum consolidated total leverage ratio covenant compliance measured over specified period | Rate								300.00%	300.00%
Debt instrument covenant threshold on annual capital expenditures								$ 10,000,000
Kellenberger mortgage loan [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity available for working capital and letter of credit purposes					$ 2,551,120.00000																			SFr 2,600,000.0
Interest on the facility accrued | Rate					2.50%																			2.50%
Variable interest rate debt								$ 1,800,000					SFr 1,800,000
USD denominated Forkardt term loan [Member] [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Conversion of outstanding principal	$ 10,800,000
CHF denominated Forkardt term loan [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable Rate | Rate								1.88%	1.88%
Variable interest rate debt										600,000						SFr 600,000
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Amount	3,700,000	SFr 3,800,000
EUR denominated Forkardt term loan [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable Rate | Rate								2.18%	2.18%
Variable interest rate debt								$ 2,900,000		4,000,000				€ 2.8			€ 3.7
Long-term debt, maturities, repayments of principal in next twelve months								900,000						0.9
Long-term debt, maturities, repayments of principal in year two								2,000,000						€ 1.9
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Amount	$ 5,300,000		€ 5.0
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Unamortized debt issuance costs								70,000
Other Noncurrent Assets [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Unamortized debt issuance costs								$ 20,000
Accounting Standards Update 2015-03 [Member] | Other Current Assets [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Deferred finance costs, net										(70,000)
Accounting Standards Update 2015-03 [Member] | Long-term Debt, Current Maturities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Deferred finance costs, net										70,000
Accounting Standards Update 2015-03 [Member] | Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Deferred finance costs, net										90,000
Accounting Standards Update 2015-03 [Member] | Other Noncurrent Assets [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Deferred finance costs, net										$ (90,000)