Automatic machining feature recognition from 3D solid model is seen as one of the most complicated tasks in creating communication bridge between design and manufacturing. This paper presents a rule-based recognition method for extracting machining features from 3D solid model. Overcoming the limitations of earlier studies, this proposed system is capable of not only recognizing many kinds of design features such as cut, boss, sweep and revolution but also separating into unit-machining features from a multiple-contour sketch based design feature. It is also effective to recognize both isolated and complex interacting feature in a uniform way. The capability of proposed method was demonstrated by two specific case studies. The extracted features are equipped with the essential manufacturing information that can be directly applicable for various applications such as computer aided process planning (CAPP).