Al2O3 coating specimens have been prepared by plasma spraying.The optimized value of VNc for the vibration cutting of the Al2O3 coatings was obtained by a series tests.Comparing experiments of the ultrasonic vibration cutting and the traditional cutting for the machining of the Al2O3 coatings by the cube nitride boride (CBN) and Yc09 (hard alloy) lathe tools have been carried out.The results show that the valid cutting time for the ultrasonic vibration cutting is 3-4 times longer than that for the common cutting (see Fig.1),at the same time,the surface roughness values of the coatings machined by the ultrasonic vibration cutting are less than that machined by the common cutting.This indicates that vibration cutting is a more competitive method comparing with the traditional cutting to machine the Al2O3 coatings.