dwg AVX-1809 · Products
Every micron engineered. Every millisecond protected.
Alloy wire is drawn wire — stainless steel or a higher alloy — reduced through a series of dies to a defined diameter and supplied on spools, in coils or cut to length as raw material for weaving, knitting, spring coiling, welding and fabrication. Beyond the grade, three properties define what you receive: the diameter and the tolerance held along its length, the temper set by the amount of cold work and any intermediate anneal, and the surface left by drawing. A wire keeps running as long as those three stay constant from the start of a spool to the end of it — a diameter that drifts, or a temper that shifts between deliveries, shows up as broken wire and rejected cloth rather than in a material report.
Also known as: stainless steel wire · drawn wire · spring wire · weaving wire · knitting wire · 316L wire supplier
A wire problem rarely arrives labelled as one. It shows as a break on the loom at three in the morning, a knitted pad that leaves the machine underweight, a spring that relaxes after the first load cycle. The certificate says the grade is right, and it is. What moved was the diameter inside the coil, the temper between two deliveries, or the drawing lubricant left on the surface.
We supply drawn wire as material: stainless and higher alloys, on spools, in coils and cut to length. Send the diameter with the tolerance class you actually need, the temper, the surface condition and the spool your machine takes. If the wire goes onto a loom, a knitting head or a coiler, say so — how it is wound and how it pays off decides as much as the metallurgy does.
Traverse-wound spools pay off without the wire crossing over itself — a turn trapped under a crossed one snatches the wire and breaks it, with nothing in the material report to explain why. Cut lengths arrive straightened, to the length tolerance agreed at RFQ. Every spool and ring leaves marked, so grade, heat number and certificate stay with the wire once the packaging is off. Availability and lead time, for the stainless grades and the nickel alloys alike, are confirmed at quotation.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| ≈0.03–6.0 mm (common commercial range, not a norm-defined limit); finer and heavier per order | |
| ±1 % of nominal in the common range (approx. 0.2–3 mm); a wider percentage on finer wire, where the classes are absolute — EN 10218-2 / ASTM A555, closer on request | |
| soft annealed, half hard, hard (ASTM A580 / EN 10088-3); spring hard (EN 10270-3 / ASTM A313) | |
| ≈500 N/mm² soft annealed up to ≈2300 N/mm² spring hard in fine diameters; the ceiling falls steeply as diameter rises | |
| bright drawn, matte (drawing lubricant retained), annealed and pickled, or electropolished | |
| traverse-wound spools, typically ~2–500 kg; coils and rings; package agreed per order | |
| straightened and cut, typically ~100–4000 mm; length tolerance per order | |
| 1.4301/304, 1.4310/302, 1.4404/316L, 1.4541/321, 1.4571/316Ti, 1.4462 Duplex; nickel alloys per order | |
| EN 10204 3.1 on request; 3.2 by arrangement |
Values shown are standard industry ranges for drawn stainless and alloy wire — not a commitment and not a stock statement. The exact specification — diameter, tolerance class, temper, tensile range, surface condition and package — is confirmed per application after technical review, and availability and lead time are confirmed at quotation.
The diameter is the easy half. The tolerance decides whether the wire runs: a drift of a few microns along a coil changes the aperture of woven cloth, the weight of a knitted pad and the free length of a coiled spring. State the nominal diameter, the tolerance you need on it, and whether that figure comes from your machine setting or from the finished part.
Soft annealed wire forms and welds but will not hold a shape. Spring hard wire holds everything and breaks where it is bent too tightly. Half hard sits between them and covers most weaving. Knitting wants soft annealed, so the loop forms without spring-back. Name the forming operation — weaving, knitting, coiling, bending, welding — and let the temper follow from that instead of from a figure copied off an old order.
Bright drawn wire is clean and welds predictably. Matte wire still carries drawing lubricant, which runs better through some machines and counts as contamination in a food or vacuum duty. Electropolished is specified where cleanliness has to be demonstrable. Tell us what happens to the wire after us — welding, annealing, washing, product contact — and the surface follows from that.
A spool that will not fit the arbor stops the machine as surely as a broken wire. Give the spool type and weight, the bore and flange diameter your machine takes, the winding — traverse or random — and whether the wire pays off over the end or through a de-reeler. For coils and cut lengths, give the ring diameter or the cut length with its tolerance.
Standard in 304/304L and 316/316L, with 1.4310 (302) where spring properties matter. 321 and 316Ti cover the sensitisation window; Duplex 1.4462 where chloride resistance has to come with higher strength. Nickel alloys such as Inconel, Incoloy, Monel, Hastelloy and Nickel 201 are sourced per order rather than held as a general range, and the diameter and temper combinations obtainable in them are narrower than in stainless. Availability, obtainable diameter and lead time for the higher alloys are confirmed at quotation.
Commonly ±1 % of nominal in the everyday range, roughly 0.2–3 mm. On finer wire the standards work in absolute values, so the same tolerance reads as a larger percentage — EN 10218-2 and ASTM A555 set the classes. Closer classes exist and cost more, so ask for a tight tolerance where it does work: a cloth woven to a micron rating and a coiled spring need it, a tying wire does not. Say whether the tolerance applies to the wire as delivered or to the part it becomes — those are different requirements.
Most weaving runs on soft annealed or half hard wire, depending on weave and wire diameter; the loom decides more than the cloth does. Knitting generally wants soft annealed, so the loop forms without spring-back. Coiling wants spring hard. If you are matching an existing process, send the wire you run now — a temper is easier to reproduce from a sample than from a description.
For most weaving and knitting duties the temper and the diameter tolerance decide. The alloy governs how the finished part survives the medium it ends up in, which matters enormously — but a correctly chosen 316L wire in the wrong temper breaks on the machine long before it ever sees the process. Specify both, and treat the temper as a machine requirement rather than a metallurgical footnote.
Traverse winding lays the wire side by side across the spool in ordered layers instead of dropping it on at random. It pays off smoothly, without a turn trapping under a crossed one and snatching. On fine wire at speed, that difference is a full spool versus a stoppage every few hundred metres. State the winding your machine expects and the payoff direction with it.
Bright drawn where the wire is welded, stays visible or goes into a clean duty. Matte where the residual drawing lubricant helps the wire run through guides and dies and the part is washed afterwards. If the wire ends up in food, pharmaceutical or vacuum service, say so at RFQ: that usually rules out matte and may point to an electropolished surface.
Yes. Straightened cut lengths are supplied with the cut length and the straightness tolerance both stated at RFQ — they are separate requirements and normally only one of them gets specified. Give the length, the quantity per length, and whether the ends must be square-cut or deburred.
EN 10204 3.1 on request, traceable to the heat. 3.2, with third-party endorsement, by arrangement. Ask for the level at RFQ: the certificate is issued with the material, and adding it once the wire has shipped is rarely possible.
Diameter and tolerance, grade or the duty that decides it, temper, surface condition, the package with spool bore and flange size, quantity in kilograms, and the certificate level. A sample of the wire you run now — or the label off the last spool — answers most of that in one go and removes a round of questions before you get a price.
RFQ
Share your specs, a sketch or a worn-out sample. Our engineers reply within two business days with a practical proposal.
Support chat
Business hours Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 Netherlands time (CET/CEST) · personal response within two business days. Urgent breakdown? Say so and we arrange what is needed.