The influence of the main parameters of rotary cutting on the surface roughness, residual stresses and microhardness of the surface layer of the machined part is investigated. It is established that increasing the depth of cutting and feed increase the roughness, residual stresses and hardness of the surface layer. The influence of other cutting parameters on the quality of the surface layer is mainly related to the kinematic and dynamic features of processing. The possibilities of regulating the quality of processing by changing the cutting parameters are revealed. Keywords: rotary cutting, quality, roughness, residual stresses, hardness, regulation, modeling. qafarov@hotmail.com