In the joinery sector, several tons of wood are processed every month. Exploitation costs must be kept low for achieving reasonable margins. Therefore, tool life is an important issue to study, looking for ways of making it longer. There are different types of wood involved in this application, and a value to establish the difficulty of machining one or the other is interesting. For this purpose, the concept of specific cutting force is introduced in this work. In the work presented here, three issues are regarded: (a) three typical woods are characterized by means of the specific cutting force as it is commonly done in the metal industry, (b) coatings are tested for high-speed steel and cemented carbide tools, and (c) tool performance is defined by admissible values of flank wear. The field tests performed showed that the coating of tools could be a good choice for this application.

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Biomachining has become a promising alternative to micromachining metal pieces, as it is considered more environmentally friendly than their physical and chemical machining counterparts. In this research work, two strategies that contribute to the development of this innovative technology and could promote its industrial implementation were investigated: preservation of biomachining microorganisms (Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans) for their further use, and making valuable use of the liquid residue obtained following the biomachining process. Regarding the preservation method, freeze‐drying, freezing, and drying were tested to preserve biomachining bacteria, and the effect of different cryoprotectants, storage times, and temperatures was studied. Freezing at –80°C in Eppendorf cryovials using betaine as a cryoprotective agent reported the highest bacteria survival rate (40% of cell recovery) among the studied processes. The treatment of the liquid residue in two successive stages led to the precipitation of most of the total dissolved iron and divalent copper (99.9%). The by‐products obtained (iron and copper hydroxide) could be reused in several industrial applications, thereby enhancing the environmentally friendly nature of the biomachining process.