The development of machining technology has coincided with the recent development of a diverse amount of materials and tools. The developed materials largely consist of hardened steel for vehicle and the mechanical industry. The machining of the hardened steel is performed in a lathe and many kind of machining centers, but it is difficult to machine because its hardness is the most difficult-to-cut materials. Hard-turning is a kind of machining process which omits the final grinding process and replaces it with a single accurate cutting process. In this paper, the turning of SKD 11(HRC 58) was performed using the CBN tool in order to recognize the optimum process conditions. The cutting force, tool life and wear, surface roughness were measured. Examining the machining characteristics when cutting of high hardened steel, low cutting speed and high conveying speed were identified to be effective in cutting conditions of SKD 11. Tool life was most effective in the conditions with 65m/min of cutting speed and 0.193mm/rev of feedrate and approximately 0.5um of very good surface profile was acquired at 0.079mm/rev of feedrate. Therefore, when cutting with Low CBN tool, it could be considered to be sufficient in reducing the steps of precision machining or replacing the polishing