<P> In the 1890s through 1910s, Frederick Winslow Taylor performed turning experiments that became famous (and seminal). He developed Taylor's Equation for Tool Life Expectancy . </P> <P> Scientific study by Holz and De Leeuw of the Cincinnati Milling Machine Company did for milling cutters what F.W. Taylor had done for single - point cutters . </P> <P> "Following World War II, many new alloys were developed . New standards were needed to increase (U.S.) American productivity . Metcut Research Associates, with technical support from the Air Force Materials Laboratory and the Army Science and Technology Laboratory, published the first Machining Data Handbook in 1966 . The recommended speeds and feeds provided in this book were the result of extensive testing to determine optimum tool life under controlled conditions for every material of the day, operation and hardness ." </P> <P> Flórez - Orrego et al. 2010, studied the effect of the variation of cutting parameters in the surface integrity in turning of an AISI 304 stainless steel . They found that the feed rate has the greatest impairing effect on the quality of the surface, and that besides the achievement of the desired roughness profile, it is necessary to analyze the effect of speed and feed on the creation of micropits and microdefects on the machined surface . Moreover, they found that the conventional empirical relation that relates feed rate to roughness value does not fit adequately for low cutting speeds . </P>

What speed to turn steel on a lathe