Nickel based alloys are machined by methods similar to those used to cut ferrous materials, however there are additional process requirements due to the poor machinability of these alloys. The current paper reports on work undertaken to optimize the cutting conditions for high speed steel circular saw blades machining materials from three of the principal categories of nickel based alloy. Techniques have been developed and verified that simulate the cutting characteristics of multi-point cutting tools by testing blade segments that contain representative teeth. The cutting behaviour of high speed steel circular saw blades have been simulated in this manner. Materials from three of the principal classifications of nickel based alloy; Cupro 107, Inconel 600L and Nimonic PK31, have been machined over a range of cutting feeds and speeds. Cutting and thrust forces were measured and the performance criteria, specific cutting energy (Esp) evaluated. Optimized cutting conditions for each material were determined from curves of Esp against feed rate at the selected cutting speeds. In an area of high product and material costs, the information contained within this paper will be of interest to the manufacturing engineer and end user when appraising the suitability of high speed steel circular saw blades as a tool for machining these materials.