Described are molds that include a ceramic material at a surface, as well as methods of forming the molds, and methods of using the molds; the ceramic material is constituted substantially, mostly, or entirely of three elemental components designated M, A, and X; the “M” component is at least one transition metal; the “A” component is one or a combination of Si, Al, Ge, Pb, Sn, Ga, P, S, In, As, Tl, and Cd; and the “X” component is carbon, nitrogen, or a combination thereof.

Described are molds that include a ceramic material at a surface, as well as methods of forming the molds, and methods of using the molds; the ceramic material is constituted substantially, mostly, or entirely of three elemental components designated M, A, and X; the “M” component is at least one transition metal; the “A” component is one or a combination of Si, Al, Ge, Pb, Sn, Ga, P, S, In, As, Tl, and Cd; and the “X” component is carbon, nitrogen, or a combination thereof.

A cubic boron nitride sintered body including cubic boron nitride and a binder phase, wherein a content of the cubic boron nitride is 40 volume % or more and 70 volume % or less; a content of the binder phase is 30 volume % or more and 60 volume % or less; an average particle size of the cubic boron nitride is 0.1 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less; the binder phase contains TiN and/or TiCN, and TiB.sub.2 and contains substantially no AIN and/or Al.sub.2O.sub.3, the binder phase has a TiB.sub.2 (101) plane that shows a maximum peak position (2θ) in X-ray diffraction of 44.2° or more; and I.sub.2/I.sub.1 is 0.10 or more and 0.55 or less, where denotes an X-ray diffraction intensity of a (111) plane of the cubic boron nitride and I.sub.2 denotes an X-ray diffraction intensity of a (101) plane of TiB.sub.2 of the binder phase.

A cubic boron nitride sintered body including cubic boron nitride and a binder phase, wherein a content of the cubic boron nitride is 40 volume % or more and 70 volume % or less; a content of the binder phase is 30 volume % or more and 60 volume % or less; an average particle size of the cubic boron nitride is 0.1 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less; the binder phase contains TiN and/or TiCN, and TiB.sub.2 and contains substantially no AIN and/or Al.sub.2O.sub.3, the binder phase has a TiB.sub.2 (101) plane that shows a maximum peak position (2θ) in X-ray diffraction of 44.2° or more; and I.sub.2/I.sub.1 is 0.10 or more and 0.55 or less, where denotes an X-ray diffraction intensity of a (111) plane of the cubic boron nitride and I.sub.2 denotes an X-ray diffraction intensity of a (101) plane of TiB.sub.2 of the binder phase.

A cubic boron nitride sintered body including cubic boron nitride and a binder phase, wherein a content of the cubic boron nitride is 40 volume % or more and 80 volume % or less; a content of the binder phase is 20 volume % or more and 60 volume % or less; an average particle size of the cubic boron nitride is 0.5 μm or more and 4.0 μm or less; the binder phase contains TiC and TiB.sub.2 and contains substantially no AlN and/or Al.sub.2O.sub.3; a (101) plane of TiB.sub.2 in the binder phase shows a maximum peak position (2θ) in X-ray diffraction of 44.2° or more; and a (200) plane of TiC in the binder phase shows a maximum peak position (2θ) in X-ray diffraction of less than 42.1°.

A cubic boron nitride sintered body including cubic boron nitride and a binder phase, wherein a content of the cubic boron nitride is 40 volume % or more and 80 volume % or less; a content of the binder phase is 20 volume % or more and 60 volume % or less; an average particle size of the cubic boron nitride is 0.5 μm or more and 4.0 μm or less; the binder phase contains TiC and TiB.sub.2 and contains substantially no AlN and/or Al.sub.2O.sub.3; a (101) plane of TiB.sub.2 in the binder phase shows a maximum peak position (2θ) in X-ray diffraction of 44.2° or more; and a (200) plane of TiC in the binder phase shows a maximum peak position (2θ) in X-ray diffraction of less than 42.1°.

A coated cutting tool, comprising: a substrate; and a coating layer formed on a surface of the substrate, wherein the coating layer includes a lower layer and an upper layer in this order from a substrate side toward a surface side, and the upper layer is formed on a surface of the lower layer, the lower layer contains a compound having a composition represented by (Al.sub.xTi.sub.1-x)N, an average thickness of the lower layer is 1.0 μm or more and 15.0 μm or less, the upper layer contains an α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer containing α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3, an average thickness of the upper layer is 0.5 μm or more and 15.0 μm or less, and in grains of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer, a proportion of grains of which a grain size is 0.05 μm or more and less than 0.5 μm is 50% by area or more and 80% by area or less.

A coated cutting tool, comprising: a substrate; and a coating layer formed on a surface of the substrate, wherein the coating layer includes a lower layer and an upper layer in this order from a substrate side toward a surface side, and the upper layer is formed on a surface of the lower layer, the lower layer contains a compound having a composition represented by (Al.sub.xTi.sub.1-x)N, an average thickness of the lower layer is 1.0 μm or more and 15.0 μm or less, the upper layer contains an α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer containing α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3, an average thickness of the upper layer is 0.5 μm or more and 15.0 μm or less, and in grains of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer, a proportion of grains of which a grain size is 0.05 μm or more and less than 0.5 μm is 50% by area or more and 80% by area or less.

A surface-coated cutting tool according to the present invention includes a tool body and a hard coating layer including a complex carbonitride layer containing a small amount of chlorine and (Ti.sub.(1-x)Zr.sub.xyHf.sub.x(1-y))(N.sub.(1-z)C.sub.z) (0.10≤x≤0.90, 0<y≤1.0, 0.08<z<0.60), a ZrHf and C content ratios in cycles, a cycle distance between a maximum ZrHf content point and an adjacent minimum ZrHf content point and a cycle distance between a maximum C content point and an adjacent minimum C content point are 5 to 100 nm, an average value of content ratio differences Δx and Δz is 0.02 or more, a distance between the maximum ZrHf content point and the maximum C content point is ⅕ or less of the distance between a maximum content point and a minimum content point of adjacent ZrHf components, and a composition fluctuation structure is 10% or more.

A surface-coated cutting tool according to the present invention includes a tool body and a hard coating layer including a complex carbonitride layer containing a small amount of chlorine and (Ti.sub.(1-x)Zr.sub.xyHf.sub.x(1-y))(N.sub.(1-z)C.sub.z) (0.10≤x≤0.90, 0<y≤1.0, 0.08<z<0.60), a ZrHf and C content ratios in cycles, a cycle distance between a maximum ZrHf content point and an adjacent minimum ZrHf content point and a cycle distance between a maximum C content point and an adjacent minimum C content point are 5 to 100 nm, an average value of content ratio differences Δx and Δz is 0.02 or more, a distance between the maximum ZrHf content point and the maximum C content point is ⅕ or less of the distance between a maximum content point and a minimum content point of adjacent ZrHf components, and a composition fluctuation structure is 10% or more.