The present study describes the effect of thermally assisted machining (TAM) parameters on the cutting force, tool wear and surface integrity characteristics (surface roughness, surface topography, and microhardness) of Inconel 718. An inexpensive flame heating technique using oxy-acetylene flame is used to heat the workpiece material. The TAM parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, and workpiece temperature were selected as process parameters over cutting force, tool wear and surface integrity characteristics.The experimental results reveal that the cutting forces and surface roughness decrease with increases in cutting speed and workpiece temperature, while the workpiece temperature increases as tool wear decreases. The tool wear mechanisms observed were abrasive, adhesive, diffusion and notch wear. The XRD results of thermally assisted machining reveal that neither phase change nor broadening of the peaks were observed at different machining conditions. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.