Coregas’ Lascut Speed assist gas harnesses the properties of both oxygen and nitrogen in a pre-mixed solution that enhances the cutting of carbon steel with fibre laser technology.
For more than 50 years, Coregas has been producing and supplying industrial, medical, and specialty gases for the welding, cutting, heating, and additive metal manufacturing markets. Yet, the company’s latest industrial gas offering, Lascut Speed, is perhaps its most efficient and innovative yet, according to market manager of Industrial, Coregas, Scott Sutton.
“Lascut Speed has the potential to transform the laser cutting industry in Australia,” he said.
Designed to cut carbon steel with fibre laser technology, Lascut Speed leverages an optimised gas mixture that is ready to use to maximise efficiency and precision. The offering is a response to the limitations presented when using oxygen or nitrogen as the assist gas for laser cutting technology, which itself continues to evolve.
“Lasers are moving towards higher kilowatt power sources, which allows them to cut thicker materials faster than ever. However, the nature of cutting with oxygen limits that production performance,” said Sutton. “Nitrogen has proven to support much faster cutting, but the problem is with these high-powered lasers, the use of pure nitrogen resulted in a much poorer cut finish on carbon steel.”
Lascut Speed addresses this by combining oxygen with nitrogen to form a ready-to-use gas that helps manufacturers in meeting production targets and enhancing workflow.
“Our gas mixture in Lascut Speed optimises the speed of nitrogen with the quality of oxygen to allow manufacturers to achieve top-notch cut quality without sacrificing efficiency,” said Sutton. “This cost-effective solution helps businesses meet higher production targets without needing additional equipment.”
Cutting through limitations
A feature of Lascut Speed is in its name. Sutton said the solution’s use of nitrogen enhances the cutting speed of carbon steel by 250 to 500 per cent compared to traditional oxygen cutting. He said this isn’t even the peak of performance, with higher kW powered units being released into the market.
“With these speed improvements over traditional oxygen cutting, we’re boosting productivity and efficiency for manufacturers nationwide,” he said. “Industry trends indicate that laser cutting machines are becoming more popular and powerful. This provides significant opportunity for operators to benefit from the effects of this new product.”
Aside from speed, an important consideration within all manufacturing processes is quality. Sutton believes Lascut Speed addresses this by maintaining the quality outcomes that are associated with oxygen, resulting in a cut with low dross levels. In addition to this, there is a benefit of low oxide on the cut faces, which means limited post-cut finishing is required.
“Through our research and practical trials we have developed a recipe that delivers optimised speed and quality characteristics,” he said.
The quality outcomes of Lascut Speed can even outweigh oxygen, as after cuts are made, they are ready for welding and painting.
“Often, when cutting with oxygen, the cut face has an oxide scale that requires post cut clean up before welding or painting. This product contains a controlled amount of oxygen that delivers a cleaner finish that can be painted and welded on straight away.”
Working in tandem with fibre laser technology, Sutton said that the offering shows versatility across a range of material thicknesses and power sources. It is also a cost-effective alternative, something Sutton links to eliminating the need for additional equipment investment. As a pre-mixed and packaged product without the need for this additional equipment investment, Lascut Speed is also easy to use, especially for small to medium laser cutting operators.
Coregas offers a range of solutions to suit various operational requirements. The 12-pack container type allows customers to start benefiting immediately from the performance improvements. For larger scale operations with higher gas demand, Coregas can tailor a bulk gas system to meet cost and output requirements.
Sutton said that Lascut Speed also includes compatibility with other existing equipment.
“Our trials have indicated that even a 6kW fibre laser machine is powerful enough to deliver significant speed and quality improvements if used with Lascut Speed,” he said.
Sutton continued, saying that many laser cutting machine OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are updating their equipment with optimised tech table configurations for mixed gas use on carbon steel as standard.
“Typically, mixed gas can be connected through a dedicated third gas inlet port,” he said. “Coregas can support other solutions in collaboration with OEM’S where a 3rd inlet is not available.”
Leading up to the solution’s release, Sutton said that feedback from trial stages has been positive and aligned with the system’s targeted benefits.
“Early trials with various customers and OEM partners have demonstrated increased cutting speed, high-quality cuts and minimal post cut finishing requirements,” said Sutton. “A lot of these customers have an expensive piece of equipment, so they want to maximise the efficiency of that investment. This product supports that.”
Sutton emphasised that , while constantly pursuing improvements in a wide variety of applications, Lascut Speed is representative of Coregas’ dedication to continuous innovation in laser gases. This includes future developments focusing on enhancing performance and expanding compatibility with new laser technologies.
“We’re a market leader in laser gases across Australia and New Zealand, so we’re always researching how we can offer more value to our customers to enhance their productivity and quality. This is just an example of that,” he said.
Lascut Speed – alongside Coregas’ other industrial gas offerings – is backed by a distribution network that extends across all states and territories in Australia, and both the north and south islands in New Zealand.
“Coregas’ extensive network spans both metropolitan and regional areas. No matter where you are, a Coregas branch or agent is always within reach,” said Sutton. “Our footprint of production sites and distribution points will ensure that we can offer this product wherever there’s demand for it in our network.”
Lascut Speed was launched at Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW) 2025 at Coregas’ stand.
“AMW is a great platform for us to share some of these messages to the market alongside our media partners,” said Sutton.
In what has been a month full of announcements, Sutton said customers can get a hold of Lascut Speed by either reaching out to a Coregas account manager or visiting www.coregas.com.au/contact. He highlighted that keeping connected with Coregas on social media is another great way to stay informed about the developments in an evolving company.