The determination of the optimal machining parameters in metal cutting, such as cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut, is an important aspect in an economic manufacturing process. The main objective in general is either to minimize the production cost or to maximize the production rate. Also there are constraints on all the machining operations which put restrictions on the choice of the machining parameters. In this paper as an objective function the production cost is considered with two constraints, surface finish and cutting power. Genetic Algorithm is applied to determine the optimum machining parameters, and the effectiveness of the applied algorithm is demonstrated by means of an example, turning operation.