Finding the right coatings for cutting tools is essential in order to increase the tool wear resistance and, thus, to get better surface roughness for the machined workpieces, and to improve productivity. A coating requirements are not only its mechanical and strength properties, but also its response to a given load and a given wear exposure. To expand ideas about the phenomena and mechanisms of wear of tungsten-based vacuum-arc coatings on the cemented carbides-based cutting tools during mechanical processing of titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V, vacuum-arc W–N, W–Zr–N, W–Nb–N, W–Cr–N, W–Mo–N, W–TiSi–N, W–TiAlYCr–N coatings are obtained, investigated and tested on the CNC turning machine SMT 500 Swedturn with use of 8%-oil–water emulsion under pressure of 10 bars. Several main wear mechanisms and their influence on the geometry of vacuum-arc coatings are established, and factors influencing on the improvement of the operational properties of the tool are investigated.