The work is focused on the investigation of the impact of various cutting characteristics on the vibrations excitation during turning process. The main attention is paid to the analysis of the effect of regenerative vibrations and its influence on the turning process. Multiple single-degree-of-freedom cutters-oscillators were developed to explore the influence of regenerative effect on vibration. The cutter-oscillator, with single-degree-of-freedom along the x-axis, allows to investigate the regenerative effect, whereas the cutter-oscillator with single-degree-of-freedom along the z-axis allows to investigate the cutting conditions without regenerative effect. The results showed discrepancies with theoretical models of regenerative self-oscillations at low spindle speeds: the excitation zone was defined by the window of the critical cutting speeds, white at cutting speeds above or below this zone, cutting occurred without vibration. It was found that the remainder of the wave on the cutting surface had no correlation to the phase shift of the adjacent waves, and the intensity of the self-oscillations did not depend on the values of the remainder and phase shift. Experimental data indicate that the key parameter determining the vibration intensity is the cutting speed rather than the spindle speed. This puts under question the application of lobe stability diagrams for evaluation of vibration stability during turning, which opens new directions for further research in this area.