A simple and effective surface coating technique, electro-spark deposition (ESD), has been used to produce amorphous alloy coatings. Fe-Cr-Mo-Gd-C-B amorphous alloy rods produced by copper mould casting were used as electrode to produce coatings onto 304 stainless steel substrate. Classical X-ray diffraction (XRD), glancing angle XRD (GAXRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis indicate that the coatings have an average thickness of similar to 30 mu m, show an amorphous structure, and are metallurgically bonded to the substrate. Microhardness tests showed that the coating layer has a high hardness of 1542 kg/mm(2), implying a much improved wear resistance on surface of stainless steels. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.