The modern terms of production dictate a necessity to produce details not only quickly, exactly and of high-quality, but also at minimum expenses. A thorough theoretical study of tool - surface contact friction is needed for this purpose. The following theoretical aspects of contact friction are considered in this article: tool - surface contact tribology characteristics, geometry of tools, influence of workpiece diameter, carrying ability of tool - surface tribological contact, part surface topology, and surface typology. These theoretical aspects create a base for understanding of the tool - surface system contact friction mechanism, and also enable to optimize this tribological process.