A surface coated cutting tool comprises a base material and a coating layer that coats the base material, the coating layer including an alternate layer composed of a first unit layer and a second unit layer alternately stacked, the first unit layer being composed of a nitride containing aluminum and zirconium, in the first unit layer, when the total number of metal atoms constituting the first unit layer is represented as 1, a ratio thereto of the number of atoms of the zirconium being not less than 0.65 and not more than 0.95, the second unit layer being composed of a nitride containing titanium and silicon, in the second unit layer, when the total number of metal atoms constituting the second unit layer is represented as 1, a ratio thereto of the number of atoms of the silicon being larger than 0 and not more than 0.20.

A cutting blade having a plurality of different coatings on surfaces thereof, including an upper surface, a lower surface, and a side surface connecting the upper surface and the lower surface, wherein the upper surface intersects the side surface to form at least one cutting edge unit, the cutting edge unit includes a main cutting edge and a secondary cutting edge, the upper surface includes at least one set of cutting planes, the cutting planes include a main cutting surface and a secondary cutting surface, the main cutting surface intersects the side surface to form the main cutting edge, the secondary cutting surface intersects the side surface to form the secondary cutting edge, a main coating is provided on the main cutting surface, a secondary coating is provided on the secondary cutting surface, and the main coating and the secondary coating are independent from each other.

A coated cutting tool is provided which has improved wear resistance and fracture resistance and which accordingly has a long tool life. A coated cutting tool comprising a substrate and a coating layer formed on the substrate, wherein: the coating layer comprises at least one composite compound layer containing a compound having a composition represented by (Ti.sub.1-xMo.sub.x)N (wherein x denotes an atomic ratio of the Mo element based on a total of the Ti element and the Mo element and satisfies 0.01x0.30); a ratio I(200)/I(111) between a peak intensity I(111) for a (111) plane of cubic crystals of the composite compound layer and a peak intensity I(200) for a (200) plane of the cubic crystals in an X-ray diffraction analysis satisfies 1<I(200)/I(111)20; and, as to particles which constitute the composite compound layer, an area ratio of particles each having an aspect ratio of 2 or more is 50% or higher.

A coating for carbide substrates employs a nanostructured coating in conjunction with a non-nanostructured coating. The nanostructured coating is produced by the addition of a refining agent flow, particular hydrogen chloride gas, during deposition, and may be produced as multiple individual titanium and titanium-based nanostructured layers varying functional materials in a series. The combination of a nanostructured coating and non-nanostructured coating is believed to produce a cutting tool insert that exhibits longer life. Pre-treating the substrate with a mixture of compressed air and abrasive medium prior to coating the substrate and post-treating the coated substrate with a mixture of water and abrasive medium after the coating process is believed to further enhance the wear resistance and usage life of the cutting tool.

The present disclosure reduces equipment failures, decreases maintenance frequency, and stabilizes cutting operation. Specifically, a holder (5) includes a fitting surface (52) capable of fitting a distal end (2a) of an electrode tip (2). A cutting member (6) having a cutting blade (6b) is attached to the holder (5) and the cutting blade (6b) cuts the distal end (2a) of the electrode tip (2) by rotating the holder (5). On the fitting surface (52), a plurality of grooves (52a) extending arcuately around the rotation axis (C1) as the center thereof are consecutively formed adjacent to each other toward the rotation axis (C1).

Provided is a ceramic sintered body having high wear resistance and chipping resistance. Also provided are an insert, a cutting tool and a friction stir welding tool, each of which uses such a high-performance ceramic sintered body. The ceramic sintered body includes Al.sub.2O.sub.3 (alumina), WC (tungsten carbide) and ZrO.sub.2 (zirconia), wherein Zr (zirconium) element is present at either one or both of: (1) a grain boundary between crystal grains of the Al.sub.2O.sub.3; and (2) a grain boundary of crystal grains of the Al.sub.2O and crystal grains of the WC, wherein the ceramic sintered body contains 55.0 to 97.5 vol % of the WC, 0.1 to 18.0 vol % of the ZrO.sub.2, and the balance being the Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and wherein the ZrO.sub.2 is in a phase of tetragonal structure (T) or a mixed phase of tetragonal structure (T) and monoclinic structure (M).

A hard coating film of a coated cutting tool contains Al within a range of 70 at % to 80 at % and Ti within a range of 20 at % to 30 at % with respect to a total amount of metallic (including metalloid) elements, and contains Ar of 0.50 at % or less with respect to a total amount of the metallic elements (including metalloid) and nonmetallic elements. The film has a diffraction peak due to each of a TiN (111) plane, a TiN (200) plane, and a TiN (220) plane of an fcc structure and an AlN (100) plane and an AlN (002) plane of a hcp structure, in which the diffraction peak of the TiN (200) plane indicates a maximum intensity and an intensity of the diffraction peak due to the TiN (111) plane is next thereafter. The average crystal grain size is within a range of 5 nm to 50 nm.

An insert based on an aspect includes a first face, a second face located opposite to the first face, a third face located between the first face and the second face, and a cutting edge located on an intersection of the first face and the third face. The first face includes a first region inclined so as be close to the second face as being separated away from the cutting edge. A virtual straight line orthogonal to the cutting edge is set as a first virtual straight line in a front view of the first face. A ten-point average of roughness the first region in a direction along the first virtual straight line is expressed by Rz1a and a ten-point average of roughness of the first region in a direction along the cutting edge is expressed by Rz1b, and Rz1a is larger than Rz1b.

A coated cutting tool comprising a substrate and a coating layer formed on a surface of the substrate, wherein: the coating layer comprises at least one -type aluminum oxide layer; and, in the -type aluminum oxide layer, when regarding a texture coefficient of a (0,0,6) plane as a TC18 (0,0,6), and also regarding a texture coefficient of a (0,0,12) plane as a TC18 (0,0,12), the TC18 (0,0,6) is the highest texture coefficient and the TC18 (0,0,12) is the second highest texture coefficient.

A cutting insert according to an aspect includes a base portion and a cutting portion. The cutting portion includes an upper surface, a side surface, a ridge line including a first ridge line and a second ridge line, and an intersection point. The upper surface includes a top surface region and a rising surface region located between the top surface and the ridge line, and having a shape protruding toward the intersection point. In a top view, a first distance from the first ridge line to the rising surface increases as close to the intersection point, and a second distance from the second ridge line to the rising surface increases as close to the intersection point.