TOOL LIFE DATA ARE PRESENTED FOR VARIOUS GRADES OF CONVENTIONAL CERAMIC AND PCBN CUTTING TOOL MATERIALS WHEN TURNING HARDENED AISI H13 HOT WORK DIE STEEL (52 HRC) AND HARDENED AISI E52100 BEARING STEEL (62 HRC). THE PAPER ALSO DETAILS SOME ASPECTS OF WORKPIECE SURFACE INTEGRITY FOLLOWING ROUGHING AND FINISHING OPERATIONS. THESE INCLUDE 3D MAPPING OF SURFACE TEXTURE AND ANALYSIS OF MICROSTRUCTURE AND MICROHARDNESS VARIATION. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT WHEN MACHINING THE HOT WORK DIE STEEL AND FINISHING THE BEARING STEEL, LOW CONCENTRATION PCBN AND MIXED ALUMINA TOOLING PROVIDE THE LONGEST TOOL LIVES.