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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Posts
    522

    Nitrogen Assist Vs Air Assist

    We have a hackerspace running a 60W CO2 laser with everything that can be run through a laser- acrylic & plywood are most common, cardboard, MDF, paper, all that happens too. But not cutting metals, of course.

    Does anyone have experience running nitrogen through the Air Assist cone? Well it's inert, it should be superior at suppressing flame and improve the cut.

    But I hear different things. Some sources say "amazing, night and day!", others say "it doesn't help over regular air". But not a lot of evidence either way. People who have actually used nitrogen are few and far between.

    Google hits are heavily contaminated by industrial info on using nitrogen for slicing through steel with >1000W lasers or fiber lasers. Not relevant, but hard to filter out.

    I'd really like to know more about this process in cutting these nonmetallic items with low-power laser cutters.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    77

    Re: Nitrogen Assist Vs Air Assist

    did you ever get this question answered. I am having the same thoughts just 7 years later,

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Posts
    522

    Re: Nitrogen Assist Vs Air Assist

    I did try some low-oxygen air in there as an experiment. Honestly, didn't seem to do anything new. The Air Assist we already had was good at suppressing flame. Wood looked about the same. The wood's edges burned (which, well, they have to be to cut) and there's resinous vapor which condenses back and renders one surface a bit sticky. Same thing. We typically don't have any flamage in acrylic.

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