A tool having an extended service lift and including a hard metal body, and at least one surface layer composed of at least one hard substance selected from the group consisting of carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides of titanium and zirconium, and having a chlorine content ranging from a finite amount up to 4 mass percent, the tool being produced by plasma-activated CVD process including: a. positioning the hard metal body in a CVD chamber having means for supplying direct voltage thereto, the hard metal body being connected to the direct voltage supplying means as a cathode thereof, b. introducing into the CVD chamber a reactive gas mixture including a nitrogen-containing substance, a carbon-containing substance, and at least one compound containing at least one of titanium and zirconium, and c. exciting plasma formation at the hard metal body and coating same by chemical vapor deposition by applying a pulsed direct voltage and a residual direct voltage thereto, the residual direct voltage having a magnitude which is at least equal to the lowest ionization potential of any gas in the reactive gas mixture but does not exceed 50% of the maximum value of the pulsed direct voltage.