The demand for high quality and fully automated production, coupled with advances in alloy development, focuses attention on the surface condition of products, especially the residual stresses on the machined surface because of its effect on component performance, longevity, and reliability. Although stainless steel is an important, material with wide application, it is not easy to obtain favorable surface condition, due to its sensitivity to thermal and mechanical operations. In order to obtain favorable surface conditions in a stainless steel component, it is necessary to have practical data which include information concerning tool wear, surface roughness and surface residual stress. In the research toward developing a machinability chart which can provide suitable cutting parameters for the high production rate and good quality surface, and can be used in computer controlled machining tools, surface residual stress distributions in the turning process for stainless steel were studied. Austenitic 304 stainless steel bars were selected as the workpieces and uncoated carbide tools were used in the tests. The obtained results will show residual stress conditions on the machined stainless steel components varying according to cutting conditions.Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the STLE/ASME Tribology Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, October 24–27, 1993