The effect of fluidized bed (FB) treatment upon hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) of polycrystalline diamond films onto WC-Co hardmetal substrates was investigated. Several scenarios to make the substrates ready for HFCVD were, comparatively, evaluated and the resulting diamond films were examined in terms of their morphology and adhesion. The diamond grain density was measured by scanning electron microscopy. The adhesion of continuous diamond film to substrate was evaluated by the reciprocal of the slope of crack radius-indentation load functions. Surface binder dissolution followed by FB treatment (PF pretreatment) allowed very high diamond nucleation density and smaller grain size. The adhesion of films grown on PF pretreated substrates was found to be very close to that of films deposited on hardmetal slabs pretreated by Murakami's reagent followed by Co etching with Caro's acid and seeded with diamond suspension in an ultrasonic vessel (MPS pretreatment). However, diamond coatings on MPS pretreated samples exhibited a rougher surface morphology as a result of both lower diamond nucleation density and larger substrate surface roughening by Murakami's etching. Based upon experimental findings, our newly developed PF pretreatment was found to be a very promising technique in substrates conditioning as well as in promoting adherent, uniform and smooth diamond coatings onto hardmetal tools and wear parts. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.