For the market prospects and strategic significance

high nitrogen steel increasingly shows its importance in the study of steel materials.The machinability of nickel free high nitrogen austenite stainless steel

which was developed by the authors

was studied including work hardening rate

surface roughness

tool wear and cutting force of turning and milling operation.Experiments of drilling and tapping had conducted to investigate the cutting characters of holes making.Work hardening characters of the tested material and the variation of cutting force vs.surface roughness had been obtained.The cutting speed in the range of 50～75 m/min is suitable for using carbide tool.The strength of tool nose was one of the most important factors determining the tool life. Higher clearance angle was proposed for hole-machining cutters.High speed steel tool was unsuitable for cutting the tested material.