Samples of China fir,Mongolian pine and Manchurian ash were used in this study to examine the influence of different cutting directions on cutting forces.The results showed that the cutting force was dependent upon wood grain direction.It was also observed that the cutting force reached the highest during cross cutting,while the cutting force during longitudinal cutting was higher than the force during transverse cutting.For the same cutting pattern,the cutting force on Manchurian ash samples was the highest and the China fir had the lowest resistant force.