Abstract In the past, although a significant level of understanding of the chip formation mechanism has been reached, the knowledge of complex tool-work interaction at small scale material removal is still lacking. This is critical when the undeformed chip thickness (h) falls below the size cutting tool edge radius (rβ). Thus, the quest for the understanding of the physical mechanisms of material removal in ultra-precision machining has built the foundation of this study. In an ultraprecision set up with a highly stiff machine tool and rigid cutting tool, the dominant factors considered for analysing the cutting performance are machined surface finishing, material flow stress and specific cutting energy. In this respect, this paper aims to provide a holistic approach of predicting and optimizing of machined surface quality by considering the material property and cutting tool edge radius effect. More detailed attention is paid to the phenomenology of the surface generation mechanisms at small material removal scales. This could be a promising research to improve the surface finishing of metallic parts. Therefore, ‘material perspective’ and ‘cutting tool edge radius effect’ are of significant important in ultra-precision machining for optimising machining parameters and improving machined surface quality with nanoscale finishing.