Financing Arrangements (Details)	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Kellenberger previous mortgage loan	Dec. 31, 2012 Kellenberger previous mortgage loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Kellenberger previous mortgage loan CHF	Dec. 31, 2013 Mortgage loans USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Mortgage loans USD ($)	May 31, 2013 Mortgage loans Forkardt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Mortgage loans Forkardt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Taiwan mortgage loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Taiwan mortgage loan TWD	Dec. 31, 2012 Taiwan mortgage loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Taiwan mortgage loan TWD	May 31, 2006 Taiwan mortgage loan USD ($)	May 31, 2006 Taiwan mortgage loan TWD	Dec. 31, 2013 Kellenberger mortgage loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Kellenberger mortgage loan CHF	Jul. 31, 2013 Kellenberger mortgage loan USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2013 Kellenberger mortgage loan CHF	Dec. 31, 2013 Kellenberger mortgage loan Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Construction loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Construction loan CNY	Dec. 31, 2012 Construction loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Construction loan CNY	Aug. 31, 2011 Construction loan USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Construction loan CNY	Dec. 31, 2013 Construction loan Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Construction loan Maximum	Nov. 30, 2013 Term loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Term loan USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2014 CHF denominated term loan USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2014 CHF denominated term loan CHF	Nov. 30, 2013 CHF denominated term loan USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2013 CHF denominated term loan CHF	Dec. 31, 2013 CHF denominated term loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 CHF denominated term loan CHF	Nov. 30, 2013 EUR denominated term loan USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2013 EUR denominated term loan EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2013 EUR denominated term loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 EUR denominated term loan EUR (€)
Long-term Debt
Amount that is allowed to be borrowed under credit facilities		$ 58,000,000																	$ 2,900,000	2,600,000
Amount that is allowed to be borrowed under credit facilities for working capital needs		56,800,000
Available borrowing capacity		70,000,000
Available borrowing capacity for working capital needs		56,800,000
Total consolidated borrowings outstanding		26,600,000	20,000,000
Total long-term debt		26,635,000	8,489,000		3,000,000	2,700,000	4,191,000	5,119,000		10,100,000	1,500,000	45,000,000	2,200,000	63,000,000			2,700,000	2,400,000				1,486,000	9,000,000	3,370,000	21,000,000						20,958,000					4,200,000	3,700,000			6,700,000	4,900,000
Current portion		(7,850,000)	(2,873,000)
Total long-term debt, less current portion		18,785,000	5,616,000
Annual maturities of long-term debt
2014		7,850,000							1,200,000																											400,000	400,000			700,000	500,000
2015		4,222,000							1,700,000																											600,000	600,000			1,000,000	700,000
2016		6,270,000							2,100,000																											700,000	600,000			1,200,000	900,000
2017		3,281,000							2,100,000																															1,200,000	900,000
2018		5,012,000							2,500,000																															2,600,000	1,900,000
Total		26,635,000	8,489,000		3,000,000	2,700,000	4,191,000	5,119,000		10,100,000	1,500,000	45,000,000	2,200,000	63,000,000			2,700,000	2,400,000				1,486,000	9,000,000	3,370,000	21,000,000						20,958,000					4,200,000	3,700,000			6,700,000	4,900,000
Debt maturity period									5 years
Principal amount of the loan		23,000,000							23,000,000						6,000,000	180,000,000										4,100,000	25,000,000
Mandatory principal payments as a percentage of net proceeds from sale of common stock	75.00%	25.00%
Reduced mandatory principal payments as a percentage of net proceeds from sale of common stock	25.00%
Outstanding amount of term loan																														10,800,000
Amount of term loan converted																																		4,100,000	3,800,000			6,700,000	5,000,000
Fixed interest rate (as a percent)				2.65%													2.50%	2.50%
Scheduled principal payments										1,500,000	200,000	4,500,000					200,000	200,000														2,400,000	2,200,000
Interest rate at period end (as a percent)											1.75%	1.75%	1.75%	1.75%								7.38%	7.38%	7.38%	7.38%
Base rate										LIBOR	one year fixed savings rate	one year fixed savings rate										base rate	base rate													CHF LIBOR	CHF LIBOR			EURIBOR	EURIBOR
Basis spread added to bank's base rate (as a percent)										2.44%	0.40%	0.40%										20.00%	20.00%													2.27%	2.27%			2.48%	2.48%
Ratio of total liabilities to total assets required to be maintained under loan agreement covenant terms																													0.65
Current ratio																												1.0
Percentage of investments in Hardinge Holdings GmbH pledged																															65.00%
Maximum annual consolidated capital expenditures that can be incurred under financial covenant																															1.15
Consolidated total leverage ratio tested quarterly on a rolling four-quarter basis																															3.0
Maximum annual consolidated capital expenditures that can be incurred under financial covenant																															$ 10,000,000
Equity covenant requirement as percentage of total assets																					35.00%