Vacuum arc discharges with evaporating anodes employing directly as well as indirectly heated thermionic cathodes are investigated. The observed volt‐ampere characteristics of these discharges depend strongly on the temperature of the thermionic cathode, the evaporated anode material, and the relative position of the electrodes. A simple model describing the observed discharge characteristics is proposed. With respect to a possible coating application, the plasma of this arc discharge is investigated at a distance of 250 mm from the evaporating anode. For arc currents between 2 and 4 A and Cu as evaporating anode material, the deposition rate is between 3.5 and 5.1 nm/s, the degree of ionization ranges from 0.6% to 6.2%, and electron temperatures are between 5.8 and 15 eV. The observed directed energy of the ions exceeds 100 eV. An examination of the deposited Cu films reveals as main results: Purity≳99.5%, compact structure, and smoothening of the film surfaces with increasing degree of ionization.