Patent ID: 8691366

Claim:
A cutting tool comprising: a substrate which is coated with a coating layer containing Ti a Al b Nb d M e (C 1-x N x ), where M represents one or more elements selected from among Si, W, Mo, Ta, Hf, Cr, Zr and Y, where 0.1≦a≦0.7, 0≦b≦0.8, 0.02≦d≦0.25, 0≦e≦25, a+b+d+e=1.0 and 0≦x≦1; a rake face; a flank face; a cutting edge between the rake face and the flank face; and droplets on the surface of the coating layer, the droplets comprising: finer droplets having particle diameters of 300 nm or less; and coarser droplets having particle diameters of 1000 nm or more; wherein the flank face comprises a higher percentage of the finer droplets than the rake face; and a Nb content in an average composition of the coarser droplets on the flank face is higher than a Nb content in an average composition of the coarser droplets on the rake face.