Arc deposition methods are simple in construction and provide easy handling and economic operation for the production coating of wear-resistant, erosion-resistant and decorative coatings. However, layers coated by arc deposition methods have many serious problems, such as porous and rough surfaces and poor adhesion, in particular on substrates of large thermal capacity. The main cause of such problems is droplets from the cathode. This paper focuses on the process of heating the coat surface of substrate by high energy ion bombardment from the cathode, an attempt has been made to preheat the substrate using additional radiant heater units instead of ion bombardment. In this way, a satisfactory improvement in the surface adhesive quality of arc-coated layers on some cutting tools has been achieved.