We examine the regenerative cutting process by using a single degree of freedom non-smooth model with a friction component and a time delay term. Instead of the standard Lyapunov exponent calculations, we propose a statistical 0-1 test for chaos. This approach reveals the nature of the cutting process signaling regular or chaotic dynamics. We are able to show that regular or chaotic motion occur in the investigated model depending on the delay time. In a cutting process chaotic vibrations and chatter are known to develop harmful operating conditions leading to poor final surface quality. The technological demand is to improve the final surface properties of the workpiece and to minimize the production time with higher cutting speeds. Thus a better understanding of the physical phenomena associated with a cutting process becomes necessary. A cutting process is inherently nonlinear and may exhibit a wide range of complex behavior due to frictional effects, delay dynamics, or structural nonlinearities [1][2][3][4][5]. Moreover it may also involve loss of contact between the tool and the workpiece. After the first pass of the tool, the cutting depth can be expressed aswhere y(t−T ) corresponds to the position of the workpiece during the previous pass, and T is the time delay scaled by the period of revolution of the workpiece 2π/Ω 0 , cp. Fig. 1a. The motion of the workpiece can be determined from the model proposed by Stepan [2]where ω 0 = k/m is the frequency of free vibration, v 0 is the feed velocity, and 2γ = c/m is the damping coefficient. F y (h) is the thrust force, which is the horizontal component of the cutting force, and m is the effective mass of the workpiece. The thrust force F y is based on dry friction between the tool and the chip. It is assumed to have a power law dependence on the actual cutting depth h and to be proportional to the chip width w and a friction coefficient c 1 . Θ denotes the Heaviside step function. The restitution parameter β = 0.75 is associated with the impact after contact loss, while t − and t + denotes the time instants before and after the impact. Substituting Eq. (1) into Eqs. (2) we derive a delay differential equation (DDE) for workpiece motion y(t). Plugging its solution into eq. (1) results in the history of cutting depth h(t).