The present study develops a method for directly measuring the temperature field in the primary deformation zone with a high spatial resolution during 2-D orthogonal machining. This is enabled by the use of a high-speed, charge-coupled device (CCD) based, infra-red (IR) imaging system which allows characteristics of the temperature field such as the location and magnitude of the highest temperature and temperature gradient in the primary deformation zone to be identified. Based on these data, the relation between the machining temperature and the cutting conditions is investigated.