An effective metal cutting tool is usually a combination of a hard coa
ting and a tough substrate. The successful deposition of diamond outsi
de its thermodynamic stability range has stimulated the development of
a new class of cutting tools: those with diamond coated inserts at an
y desired style and edge geometry. The successful implementation of di
amond coatings also expedited similar research in the deposition of cu
bic boron nitride. This paper presents superhard coated tools, with an
emphasis on diamond coated WC-Co tools, the corresponding deposition
technologies and the foreseen metal cutting applications.