Since the friction and wear forms of woodworking tools in machining and processing are complex, the work aims to study the friction characteristics between high-speed steel and wood powder/PE composite. Through the friction test on wood powder/PE composite and high-speed steel, the change rule of the friction coefficient between wood powder/PE composite and high-speed steel and the surface morphology of wood powder/PE composite after test were analyzed according to the wood powder mass fraction, reciprocating frequency, axial load and other factors. With the increase of wood powder mass fraction, the friction coefficient of the wood powder/PE composite and the HSS tool tended to increase first and then decrease, and the friction coefficient reached the maximum when the wood powder mass fraction was 50%, and the friction characteristics were abrasive friction and adhesive friction. With the increase of frequency and load, the friction coefficient of wood powder/PE composite with more wood powder mass fraction decreases significantly, so HSS tools are more suitable for machining wood powder/PE composite with higher wood powder mass fraction. After friction test, the roughness of wood powder/PE composite decreases significantly and HSS tools can be used to machine wood powder/PE composite. The morphology of composite with a wood powder mass fraction of 50% after the test is relatively smooth, which provides a powerful reference for obtaining better surface cutting quality.