Cutting 1/16' SS 304

[Railmen]

question for Jim Colt, will cutting with Nitrogen help with dross and black rough edge like you get from cutting with just air???

Powermax 85 finecut on flashcut system

Thx Jim for your time

Railmen

[jimcolt]

You will get less dross with air on all materials, but slightly less oxidation with nitrogen. For best cuts on thin stainless you need a high definition plasma, a laser or a waterjet, unfortunately.

The best cuts are done following book specs with the Finecut consumables. The issue is that many low cost (under $25k) cnc machines cannot maintain the .02" cut height and the 250 ipm cut speeds, especially if you have a lot of detail in the cuts. Slowing and raising the height will make the edge rougher, more oxidized, wider kerf and promotes warpage..

If you have a raise/lower type water table you can use nitrogen with the finecut consumables with the torch submerged and inch or so under water....this will almost completely eliminate oxidation, but may worsen dross.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[Railmen]

Ok sounds good, so i guess from what you are saying is that i can run my torch underwater also, like 1/2" won't hurt it, interesting might have to grab some shorter slats and give that a try............

Thx Jim

Railmen