Integrity of the surface is very important in hardened steel applications such as bearings. Rotary tool turning is currently being explored to process such parts. It is important to know the effect of this process on surface characteristics such as white layer formation. This paper compares the characteristics of hardened steel surfaces produced by rotary tools with surfaces created under identical conditions using a conventional fixed cutting tool. Improved surface integrity with respect to white layer formation has been observed with rotary tools. The paper also reports other related observations such as forces and tool wear. The amount of heat going into the workpiece in rotary tool cutting versus fixed tool cutting is compared using an approximate thermal analysis.