Nitrogen Cut Gas Specs ?

[aws04]

Could someone please tell me what Nitrogen gas quality is commonly for use on stainless steel 1mm to 12mm.
Which one do i have to use?

(1)purity spec 99.99%, oxygen content less than 10ppm
(2)purity spec 99.95%, oxygen content less than 500ppm

The book for our bystronic byspeed says both will work. We would like to change supplier & use the lower spec gas.Would we still get consistently shiny burr free parts?

regards steve

 

[axiomatrix]

Both of those gas specs are OK, with high speed laser cutting, especially of thin materials the purity of the gas shield is related more to the take up and mixing of the atmospheric oxygen than to the ppm content of the bottled or cryo gas supply. The most important factor is the centrality of the nozzle to the beam to maintain as good a gas shield and flow through the kerf to keep the remelt layer oxygen free.