Page 5 - Stainless Steel Solutions

CUTTING

Shielding gases for cutting

Shielding Gases for Cutting of Stainless Steel

Praxair’s HydroStar Blends
Mixture Composition % Cylinder Volume Pressure Part #
Produces a metallurgically clean Style (ft ) (psig)
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cut edge with virtually no dross. Ar H2 N2
HydroStar argon/hydrogen and HydroStar F-5 5 95 T 300 2,400 HY STAR81-T
nitrogen/hydrogen blends are K 223 2,000 HY STAR81-K
primarily used when cutting HydroStar H-35 65 35 T 276 2,400 AR STAR56-T
stainless steel and nickel alloys.
K 207 2,000 AR STAR56-K

Plasma cutting with HydroStar F-5 produces smooth, shiny cuts with silver edges that are close to the base
®
colour of the metal. This gas also avoids the dark heat affected zone that typically results with air plasma cutting.
Praxair's HydroStar F-5 gas blend can be used with Hypertherm's Powermax45 XP, 65, 85 or 105 to
produce a metallurgically clean cut edge with virtually no dross. This gas blend is primarily used when
cutting stainless steel and nickel alloys either manually or with a mechanized system.
Praxair's HydroStar H-35 gas blend is primarily used when cutting stainless steel and nickel alloys either
manually or with a mechanized system.

F5
These samples were cut from 1/2" (approximately 13 mm)
stainless steel 304B at 105 A using a Powermax105.
Air

F5: Advantages F5: Disadvantages F5: Similarities to air CUTTING
• Smooth, shiny cut edge • Stainless steel only • Approximately the same amount of
• Silver cut edge, similar to the base colour • Slower cut speeds dross. With F5 and with air, stainless
steel dross is dark in colour and can be
of the metal – no dark heat affected zone
• Not recommended for thicknesses less challenging to remove
• No oxidation of the cut surface – the cut than 3 mm or 10 gauge (GA) or for use • Approximately the same gas pressure
steel maintains its corrosion resistance with Hypertherm FineCut consumables
®
requirements
• Ability to use the same Hypertherm • Slightly degraded cut quality on bevel
Duramax consumables as for standard cuts
cutting and gouging with air (includes
CopperPlus electrodes)
TM

Victor ESS4 Single Stage High Capacity Regulator
for Hydrogen

All EDGE regulators feature SLAM (Shock Limitation and Absorption
TM
Mechanism) technology built into the adjusting knob, providing additional
strength, safety and protection of the regulator internals. The EDGE Series
regulators also have easy to read gauges with enhanced graphics, colour-coded
knobs for quick gas identification, and offer more natural and safer hand/body
positioning for adjusting delivery pressure. A regulator intended for hydrogen
service must be used with HydroStar F-5 or HydroStar H-35 gas blends.

Gas Service Part # Model # Delivery Range (psig)
Methane/Hydrogen VIC0781-5138 ESS4-200-350 10-200

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800.225.8247
800.225.8247