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Purpose – The purpose of this project is to study the performance of uncoated versus coated cemented carbide tools when performing milling operations in heat treated titanium alloys, with the goal of establishing a base line of knowledge and methodology linked to these difficult-to-machine materials relevant for the metal cutting industry. Design/methodology/approach – The work that is carried out in this project comprise both literature review, that is presented as the state of the art as the necessary theoretical background to understand what is done; and experiments, that were designed and executed at Seco Tools in Fagersta in order to achieve the primary goal, testing and comparing different scenarios where cutting parameters played a key role. Findings – The findings of this project have been broad; clear differences in performance in some cases between coated and uncoated indexable tools, but also not significant differences in some other cases between coated and uncoated versions; wear mechanisms acting over the tools such as adhesion or diffusion; and other relevant findings linked to coating performance and its morphology in the initial phases of contact between tool and workpiece. Practical implications – The findings that have been made in this master thesis will contribute to understand better how the wear mechanisms act over the tools when machining titanium alloys, in order to be able to hopefully find a better cutting solution that would enhance tool life in milling processes, creating more efficient and sustainable indexable cutting tools. Research limitations – Machining time was the biggest restriction in terms of resource limitation, as not all the experiments that were planned were finally executed due to this issue.