A surface engineering approach for a novel pre-treatment of hard metal tool substrate for optimum adhesion of diamond coatings is presented. Firstly, an alkaline solution was used to etch the WC grains to generate a rough surface for better mechanical interlocking. Subsequently, surface Co was removed by etching in acid solution. Then the hard metal substrate was boronized to form a compound interlayer which acted as an efficient diffusion barrier to prevent the outward diffusion of Co. Novel nano-microcrystalline composite diamond film coatings with a very smooth surface was deposited on the surface engineering pre-treated hard metal surface. Promising results of measurement in adhesion strength as well as field cutting tests have been obtained.