This study investigates the effect of rake angle on cutting performance during machining of stone-plastic composite material with diamond cutters. To that end, an orthogonal cutting experiment was designed, in which stone-plastic composite material was planed by a polycrystalline diamond (PCD) cutter to produce chips. The features studied include cutting forces, cutting heat, chip formation and cutting quality. The conclusions are as follows: Firstly, increased rake angle causes frictional force and resulting force to decrease, promoting an increase in normal force. Secondly, during planing, cutting heat is primarily distributed in the chips, with less retained in the cutting edge, and the least retained in the machined surface. The temperatures of both cutting edge and chip decline with an increase in rake angle. Thirdly, as rake angle increases, chip morphology changes from segmental to curved and then to particle chips, with chip-breaking lengths first increasing and then decreasing. Finally, an increased rake angle leads a more stable cutting process and improved cutting quality. Therefore, with the precondition of blade strength, a diamond cutter with a larger rake angle can be used to machine stone-plastic composite to improve production quality by forming a smoother machined surface.