The pursuit to achieve a broadly defined optimisation of the manufacturing processes imposes the use of the machining methods that are increasingly innovative. The increase of the machining efficiency assuring a high surface quality as well as precision of dimensions and shapes makes us search for new methods to meet the demanding requirements, apart from the development of materials used for the working parts of tools, wear-resistant coatings or improvement of the cutting tool point geometry. One of the methods to improve forming by machining is the optimisation of machining strategy during manufacture of the components having complex shapes. Progress in this field is particularly noticeable along with development of the software for machining on multi-axis machines. This article presents the results of tests for the impact of machining strategy onto passive force, cutting torque, material removal rate, topography of the obtained surface and the shape of chip resulting from the aluminium alloy milling. The tests were performed by comparison of the classic strategy available in the NXCAM system to the iMachining technology.