Abstract: A turning tool for the turning of workpieces, especially in automatic copying machines, comprises a turning plate which can be composed of hard metal, e.g. tungsten carbide, and is adapted to carry out both longitudinal turning and transverse turning, e.g. facing of the workpiece. The turning plate, which can be mounted upon the usual holder of a lathe of the copying type, has a pair of adjoining cutting edges inclined to one another and including a main cutting edge and an auxiliary cutting edge designed to produce a chip having two distinct adjoining portions so that, upon curling of the chip, it tends to break at a maximum length of, say, 5 to 6 cm.