There is a gap in machining literature concerning the cutting of workpieces that carry mill scale on their surface. In this work, we aspire to close this gap for the horizontal bandsawing process. For this, extensive wear tests for 1.2312 steel are conducted. The influence of the presence of mill scale on wear thrust force and vibrations is studied. Additionally, the impact of reducing bandsawing parameters only while cutting through the mill scale layer is studied. The presence of mill scale shows a dramatic increase in wear, thrust force and vibration. That impact can be somewhat reduced solely by deploying said local parameter reduction.