Abstract: A method for producing a piston for an internal combustion engine, which piston has a piston head, an annular portion and a piston skirt which has two opposite piston pin bosses, shaft recesses being made into the regions of the radially outer end faces of the piston pin bosses during the final machining of the outer surface of the piston blank, the recesses extending in the radial direction. The final machining of the outer surface of the piston blank, including the shaping of the grooves into the annular portion and the shaping of the skirt recesses into the piston skirt, is carried out using a lathe, the position of the turning tool thereof being freely programmable depending on the rotational position of the piston.