The cutting process can be roughly divided into turning, milling, and center tooth cutting (end face cutting of drill bits and end mills, etc.). The cutting heat of these cutting processes has different effects on the cutting edge. Turning is a continuous cutting process where the cutting force on the cutting edge does not change significantly, and the cutting heat continuously acts on the cutting edge. Milling is a kind of discontinuous cutting. The cutting force is discontinuous acting on the edge. Vibration will occur during cutting. The edge will be subject to thermal shock. Heating is an alternate process of cutting and non cutting cooling. The total heat is less than turning.

During milling, the cutting heat is a discontinuous heating phenomenon, while during non cutting, the tool teeth are cooled, which is beneficial for extending the tool life. The comparative life test of turning and milling cutters conducted by the Japanese Institute of Physics and Chemistry was conducted on ball end mills, milling cutters used for turning to ordinary turning cutters, under the same material and cutting conditions (due to different cutting methods and depths), feed, cutting speed, and can only be generalized), and under the same conditions. The results showed that milling is more conducive to extending tool life

When cutting with a central edge (i.e. cutting speed=0m/min), tools such as drill bits and ball end mills often appear near the central edge, with a lower tool life but still stronger than turning. When cutting difficult to machine materials, the cutting edge is greatly affected by heat, which often reduces the tool life. For example, in milling, the tool life is relatively long. However, difficult to machine materials cannot all be milled, and there will always be a need for turning or drilling. Therefore, corresponding technical measures should be taken for different cutting methods to improve processing efficiency.