The invention relates to a cutter damage and abrasion state detecting method, which comprises the following steps that 1, vibration signals in the cutter cutting and grinding processes are measured; 2, the vibration signals are subjected to mode filtering calculation; 3, time-frequency wavelets of the vibration signals are subjected to classification sorting and feature extractions; and 4, the time-frequency wavelets are subjected to classification, collection and signal separation processing, various kinds of time-frequency wavelets are subjected to signal reconstruction, the kurtosis index (Cq) and the peak index (Ip) of various kinds of signals are then counted, the cutter damage and abrasion state and the machine tool operation state are detected under the dynamic distribution condition of a Cq-Iq plane according to various kinds of separation signal index parameters, and the identification detection and the quantitative early warning and forecast of the cutter damage and abrasion state are realized. Through single monitoring equipment, the detection of the cutter damage and abrasion state is realized, the signal identification stability is good, the mechanical processing production safety is ensured, the precision of processing parts is improved, and the production rate and the utilization rate of a machine tool are improved.