Post-cutting chip activation analysis has been developed for the study of tool wear. In this technique, chips produced during machining are analyzed by neutron activation for a tracer that occurs in the tool. Tungsten was used as a tracer that was inherently present in the tool, and europium was used as a tracer that was added to the tool during its production. It was found that europium fails to effectively meet all the requirements of a tracer in the tool. By using the tungsten in high-speed steel tools and Ti—6Al—4 V alloy work material, it was shown that (a) a random selection of chips was ineffective in providing useful tool wear information and (b) the traditionally ignored break-in period of tool wear could be used to predict tool life to within the same margin of error as conventional methods, but with potential savings in time and cost.