Hi all. I was wondering if anyone knows of a good source of Stellite wire for a MIG welder. Any tips as to the best procedures and settings would also be appreciated greatly as I am a novice in this area.
I know they make wire for hardfacing blades and buckets but all I have found is industrial quantities. I cannot afford nor do I need a 100lb spool. :)

Thanks a lot!

Josh
Rochester, NY

Josh, first of all welcome to the CKD.I doubt if you find any MIG wire for that.You might be lucky and find something for TIG but I haven't researched it.Try this link,if you can't find it here, it isn't made.Dave

www.stringbikini.com/welding.htm (http://www.stringbikini.com/welding.htm)

Another useful link www.stellite.com (http://www.stellite.com)

Hey thanks for the input guys!

-Josh

I bet it would be VERY expensive in a mig welding spool.
Stellite is a hard surfacing alloy. I know there are covered electrodes with it, the flux can be knocked off, I don't know about the tig wire version, I'v never seen it but that doesn't mean anything.
Can I ask what you intend it for?

I was going to use it to toughen up some tools around the house, some mower blades, whatever else I can think of. I mostly wanna know because I just got the welder an wanna see what I can do with it. ;)

A new mig welder? COOL.
I just got my tig machine last year. I love it too.

Talking about hard power tools, I remember when my brother asked me to make a 440-C blade for his electric edger. He said the curb kept eating his blade up.
He came back next week to tell me that the new blade kept eating his curb up. :)

I suggest going down to your local weld supply shop and pulling up a barstool. Ask someone to show you what is available in thier catalog, I'm sure they would be happy to give you the tour. :)
Weld supply shops can be very helpful.

Thanks Gene. I deffinatly will check out the supply houses around me. Just out of curiosity what is 440-C? Is that a type of stainless? or hard carbon steel? And what is the hardest kind of steel I could weld to a mild steel? I'll bet thats another question for my welding guy huh. ;)
Thanks

440-C is a high carbon S/S for blades. Any tool steel can be welded, the secret is getting the right filler wire, and yes that is their department again. :)

I think that you are going off on the wrong track if you are looking for the hardest material to weld to a soft backing. In the knife business the greatest wear resistance is more desirable than extreme hardness.....extreme hardness chips.
Stellite on the other hand is not as hard but has one of the highest wear resistances of all, this equates to edge holding.

A hew months ago an article appeared about someone who was welding stellite edges on ATS 34 blades, I think it was in Blade magazine.

Thanks for seting me straight George. I'll be on the look-out for some easy to weld, highly wear resistant materials. :)