Diamond-coated tungsten carbide-base sintered hard alloy material for insert of a cutting tool

Abstract

A diamond-coated tungsten carbide-base sintered hard alloy material for inserts of cutting tools, which has greatly improved bond strength or degree of bonding of the diamond coating layer to the matrix and therefore is capable of exhibiting excellent cutting performance over a long period of time. The sintered hard alloy material comprises: (1) a matrix of a sintered hard alloy consisting essentially of 1-4 percent by weight cobalt, and the balance of tungsten carbide and inevitable impurities, the tungsten carbide having a coarse grain structure having an average grain size of 2-10 microns; and (2) a diamond coating layer formed over surfaces of the matrix by forming an etching layer over the matrix surfaces and then forming the diamond coating layer over the matrix surfaces via the etching layer by a low pressure vapor-phase synthesization method. If required, the matrix may further contain CO1-CO8 (ISO) free carbon.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.