Superalloy, Inconel 718 is widely used in the sophisticated applications due to its unique properties. However, machining of such superior material is difficult and costly due its peculiar characteristics. The present article is an attempt to suggest Taguchi optimization technique to study the machinability of Inconel 718 with respect to cutting force, cutting temperature, and tool life in high speed turning of Inconel 718 using cemented tungsten carbide (K20) cutting tool. Therefore, the objective of this work is divided into two phases: (i) to demonstrate a correlation between cutting speed, feed, and depth of cut with respect to cutting force, cutting temperature, and tool life in a process control of high speed turning of Inconel 718 in order to identify the optimum combination of cutting parameters; (ii) to show the effect of high speed cutting parameters on the tool wear mechanism and chip analysis. These correlations were obtained by multiple linear regressions. The confirmation tests were carried out to make a comparison between the experimental results and mathematical models proposed. The proposed models agree well with the experimental results. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.