I have L308 stainless wire, your standard run of the mill flux core wire and L-70 steel wire. It is going on the tip of a piece of mild steel.
I want to use one of my fillers to tip the point of a home made tool so I can use it with out dulling. It is like a punch.
Thanks for the help.

I think I would harden the steel before trying to weld on something.

if you can heat the tip of your tool cherry red, and dip it in some carbon(charcoal?) it'll pick up some carbon, then quench it in oil, to control the cool rate, do that a few times and that should make it fairly hard. did that with a few chisels in metal shop years ago. then lightly grind to desired shape.

That is called case hardening… you’ll have a hard time driving enough carbon into the steel to get much more then just the very surface hard, but it can work that way.

Otherwise mild steel and the 308 will not harden from a heat treat.

They do make “hard facing” welding wire and welding rod, basically a very hard filler that is designed for exactly that. They usually run beads across the pointed edges of construction equipment and the like with it.

You could also weld a piece of tool steel or some hardenable steel to the tip of whatever it is.

What are you making?

I made a High carbon steel tiped prospectors' pick from cold rolled steel tiped with a file ( I used as the welding rod) back home where I could get to a oxyfuel torch. I would just do that if I had a torch.
I know about the hard facing rods and wire that is what gave me the idea, I was just wonedering if I could improve my japinese mild steel rod. I was thinking about getting hard facing wire but it would be over a month before I ever see it when I order it, just wanted some thing to use to make the mild steel a little better.
It is for a tool like a pick, the mild steel dosen't hold up very good.
If I wanted to harden it I would heat it up till it is about yellow in color and quench it, Still might do that if I can get the right filler. I knew that mild steel wouldn't heat treat worh crap. Hard face filler might take a temper.

that is solid bs about not being able to heat treat mild carbon steel, you all need to go and get the latest version of the machinist's handbook from your local book store. that thing is my bible in every day work in my field, and we are constantly hardening mild steel. you guys are not doing it correctly, the metal has to be heated for a certain time at a certain temp, then quenched in a certain medium to get the desired hardness. the machinist's handbook will give you all the info that you will ever need on working on just about everything you can think of. i have never not found what i was looking for in there. it even gives you step by step procedures and a general overview on the theory behind doing what you are trying to do,

You might also want to consider silver soldering a carbide insert on or into the tip.

negative you don't want to do that eithor, carbide inserts are 10$ apiece and you will shatter and chip them with even the slightest blow. carbide is hard, but it is very brittle and doesn't take a blow well at all. carbide is designed for a uninterrupted cut and works with force, not sharpness. you are best off heating up some carbon steel and forging the shape of the tip and then quenching it in some old motor oil to harden it

I can't go to a local book store. I live in japan.
Then I will search ebay for that book.
I thought about carbide but remembered it would most likely shatter.
Well I started tiping the mild steel with E71T-GS steel welding filler and quinching it while it is still yellow hot. It feels harder when I file it. Have not tried to use it yet.

you live in misawa(think that is spelled correctly)
i am assuming that you are in the military! correct? if so then go to the base machine shop, and they will shurely have one there especially if they are navy like me. they might even help you out and make you one for a couple of bucks!

The machine shop on the flight line is where I go a lot, the place where I work is near them plus my work generates stuff for them to fix.
They know a lot untill it comes to MIG welding any thing and every thing like I do, ( flux and gas shealded steel, Aluminum, SS and Titanium).
I'll seach the internet some more and if I can't find what I want I will see if I can see if I can check out there heat treating tech data.

it won't be under what you are thinking of, it will be under hardening and heat treating. you should find it with ease in the back of lthe book, i used to be a airdale,(AT) but now i am a MR, the guys who normally fix your stuff as you put it, here we are miracle workers. we are the guys that everyone goes to when it "Can't be fixed" we normally are able to fix it and if not, then we make a new one. try to get your hands ahold of some 1018 cold rolled steel, it is normally what we use to make chissels. what is the name of the tool that you are making?

We have guys like that we call them Gold Flag.
They do repaires that normaly the factory would do.
I will see if I can find some 13mm cold rolled steel.
I think I will name the tool the Gauss punch.

anything about a half inch will do as long as it has a decent carbon count.