This paper discusses the minimum cutting thickness with a continuous chip in sub-micrometer order precision diamond cutting. An ultra precision cutting model is proposed, in which the tool edge radius and the friction coefficient are the principal factors determining the minimum cutting thickness. The experimental results verify the proposed model and provide various supporting evidence. In order to reduce the minimum cutting thickness a vibration cutting method is applied, and the effects are investigated through a series of experiments under the same conditions as conventional cutting method.
