The machinability of ceramics has been experimentally studied. The experiments were conducted on alumina cernmics of various purity, quartz, and cordierite using the sintered diamond tools and CBN tools. Tool wasre, surface roughness, and cutting resistence were measured and analysed. It was found that the workpieces could be machined with the diamond and CBN tools, but the sintered diamond tools were more efficient for the machining of the high strength ceramics. The machining of alumina ceramics with sintered diamond tools showed that (1) wet machining prolonged tool life comparing with dry machining, (2) workpiecewith higher purity had better surface roughness, (3) severe cutting conditions led to the chipping and fracture of tool and increase of the surface roughness and cutting resistance, (4) 20~40m/min of cutting speed, 0.01~0.02mm/rev of feed, and 0.1~0.2mm of cutting depth are suggested as proper cutting conditions for the high strength ceramics.