The present invention is directed to a twist drill (10) which is coated with a layer of CVD diamond and which has slots (16, 18, 20) in its head which are filled with CVD diamond. The inventive twist drill is made by forming slots in the head of the twist drill and then subjecting the slotted twist drill to a CVD diamond deposition process for coating said twist drill with a layer of CVD diamond and for filling said slots with CVD diamond. The performance of CVD diamond-coated twist drills does not depend on retaining the diamond film over most of the areas of the drill; but, rather, drill performance is dependent upon retaining a layer of diamond on the cutting edge of the drill. The diamond-filled slots in the head of the twist drill function as wear stops and additional cutting edges as the surrounding drill material is worn away during use. IMAGE
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