The Ti coatings on cubic boron nitride (cBN) grits were prepared by discharge treatment on a mixture of Ti powders and cBN grits in spark plasma sintering system. The uniform and full coatings with a thickness of similar to 1.2 mu m were prepared at 850 degrees C for 60 min, which were constituted with TiB2, TiN, and Ti phases. The compressive fracture strength and toughness impact of the Ti-coated cBN grits were 11.6% and 7.4% higher than the cases of the pristine ones, respectively. With the aid of Ti coatings, the interface bonding strength between cBN grits and Fe-based matrix was improved by 335 MPa in the Fe-based matrix/cBN composites. (C) 2017 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.