Several techniques have been developed over time for the measurement of heat and the temperatures generated in various manufacturing processes and tribological applications. Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages. The appropriate technique for temperature measurement depends on the application under consideration as well as the available tools for measurement. This paper presents a procedure for a simple and accurate determination of the time-varying heat flux at the workpiece–tool interface of three different metals under known cutting conditions. A portable infrared thermometer is used for surface temperature measurements. A spline smoothing interpolation of the surface temperature history enables to determine the local heat flux produced during stock removal. The measured temperature is represented by a third-order spline approximation. Nonetheless, the accuracy of polynomial interpolation depends on how close are the interpolated points; an increase in degree cannot be used to increase the accuracy. Although the data analysis is relatively complicated, the computing time is very small.