This research is an approach to investigate the effect of cutting condition on surface roughness in dry and flood cutting of AISI 1030. The objectives of this project are to compare the plastic injection mould quality between dry and flood cutting condition, as well as to determine the best cutting condition. The parameters used were depth of cut (0.25mm, 0.5mm, and 1.0mm), feed rate (50mm/rev, 100mm/rev and 150mm/rev) and cutting speed (700m/min, 1400m/min and 2100m/min). Surface roughness value was used to determine to quality characteristic of the machined mould. The experiments were done using Mazak CNC milling machine and the material selected was AISI 1030, which is a medium tensile and low hardenability carbon steel. Twenty-seven runs were done in both dry and flood cutting, adapting Taguchi Method - Orthogonal Array. After each machining, the surface roughness was measured using Mitutoyo Surface Roughness Tester. The data obtained was then analyzed through Signal to Noise Ratio calculation. This analysis produced the best combination of parameters which gives the lowest surface roughness. The best combinations for dry cutting are 2100m/min for cutting speed, 50mm/rev for feed rate and 0.25mmfor depth of cut. As for flood cutting, the best combinations are 2100m/min for cutting speed, 50mm/rev for feed rate and 1.0mm for depth of cut. The surface roughness obtained using this parameter in dry cutting is 0.27Ám and 0.40Ám in flood cutting. From the comparison, it is proved that dry cutting produced lower surface roughness compared to flood cutting.