I need one of these in my life. I have literally spend all afternoon today trying to cut a sunflower out of Basswood with my Maker. It has not gone well at all. Alot of hours wasted on one gift. I have heard some of these machines will also still cut vinyl to essentially replace ones Cricut all together. I have alot of research to do. I very much appreciate your video.
It can be very frustrating working with a machine that isn't up to the task! You are definitely on the right track - a 20W laser will cut through basswood like butter.
The two watt laser is not just a less powerful laser. It is a completely different type of laser it is meant for engraving into metals. The 20 w and a 40 watt are diode lasers which are great for leather or wood or acrylic. But to reiterate they are completely different types of lasers.
Thank you for your demonstration. If you buy the risers I would appreciate seeing you cut after it is put on the risers. Also demonstrate how to engrave on glass etc
Thanks for watching! I just recently posted a video with the riser base installed. I haven’t yet filmed a demo of working with glass, but that’s a great recommendation!
I am just as excited as you were just got mine today. I was so confused about the power for the airpump i thought id lost and was looking for it everywhere
It was a nice video, very clear on guidance and extremely helpful, but consider on slowing down when going from your MacBook to the laser to prevent dizziness. Thanks for sharing.
should I get the 20w to start or 40w? I want to make wedding invitations with it too. I see that the cutting on this machine cuts them perfect. I got a Cricut machine and this will take it to another level.
Good question! The 20W would definitely be able to do what you want, but the extra versatility of the 40W + 2W IR (I believe a few of the 40W bundles include the 2W) makes it a great duo.
I did have a company reach out to give me a laser as well, but I haven’t taken it because they wanted two videos of at least a certain length. I would like to have a laser so that I could personalize things by putting my logo on it and I wouldn’t mind using it to etch glass panels for wall hung whiskey cabinets as well. Cool video let me know if you try to use it on glass.
It has to fail. Diode lasers can’t do transparent materials and only do acrylics of certain colors. You would need a CO2 laser. The by far best beginner and pro diode laser for organic materials would be the Roly Lasermatic MK2. For Lasers precision is everything.
@@crowguy506 I know very little about lasers at this time but I thought it worked if you painted the glass with water soluble paint first (like tempera paint) to allow the laser to focus. When finished you just rinse the paint off.
Yes! By air assist, I assume you mean smoke extractor in that context. I just got mine a few days ago and plan to put it through its paces and should have a video out on it in a week or two.
One concern that I have been researching has to do with some bad reviews regarding xTool Post-Sale support. Frankly, I do not mind paying more for a laser but I want to get what I pay for including good customer response. This may be a tough one to measure but are you hearing anything regarding lack of response when you need xTool post-sale support? BTW New subscriber and very good video.
Thanks for watching and subscribing! I've had to use support for a grounding issue that I had with my riser base (it ended up being my own fault) and found that support was quite good with responses being ~24 hours from my initiation and responding to xTool. They had a good problem solving process and were quick to send new screws to me once we exhausted the couple of things they wanted me to check. It's always possible that I received preferential treatment due to making videos, but I never got the sense that they knew of that involvement.
Thanks for watching! I hadn't heard of the ACMER P3 but just took a look and it's a nice looking enclosed laser. I'd imagine the experience would be similar to what I had with my Creality Falcon2 Pro where the unit and laser itself are great, but dialing in the focus and settings takes some trial and error. Likely great for those experienced with lasers, but the xTool S1 is in a class of it's own as far as ease of use using their XCS software. Of course, this is all my opinion as a laser beginner.
Interesting question! I just looked up using a diode laser for carbon cloth and other items like Kevlar and it doesn’t seem like they have enough power or the right laser to do so. I see some references to CNCs and electric scissors, but that’s a space I know nothing about.
Now that I have the S1 doing framing without any issues as shown in your video made for me, are there any shortcoming you can share about the S1 that you don’t like? I’m still debating whether to keep it or not. For me, I don’t like that the honeycomb tray has a tendency to shift during lasering. Additionally, there is a gap between the honeycomb tray and the unit, which is a waste of space. They could have made the honeycomb tray longer to fit the unused space. And because the honeycomb isn’t as big as the unit xTool’s could had condensed the unit frame smaller where it wouldn’t be so oversized. A lot of waste of material. I’m not a fan of LightBurn; however, I do like xTool’s proprietary software. xTool software reminds me of Cricut Design Space, which I am very comfortable using. I’m the type of person who likes things to look pleasing, be easy to use, and functional all at the same time, which is why I use Apple products. LightBurn is powerful and can do a lot, but visually, it's awful. User-friendly? Not at all. LightBurn has too many steps to complete one task, with too much redundancy in the software. I also like xTool’s precise positioning and would love to have a camera as well. I am going to see how accurate the precise positioning is later today by engraving pencils and toothpicks. If there are any drawbacks for precise positioning when doing batching, it will be time-consuming. This is where a camera would come in handy. Otherwise, I too need to put it through several tests to determine if it is worth the $2,200 I paid for. I will provide updates. 😎
That’s great you got the framing to work! I’ve been using the S1 a lot over the past month on many different materials (including glass and stainless steel) with great success. I am planning to post a review video on or around May 31 where I’ll note what I like and what I don’t like. Like you, I really like the XCS software and I think we’re both lucky to have experience the v2.0 version as the previous seemed to get a lot of negative feedback. I’ve been using Lightburn while testing the Creality Falcon2 Pro laser and while the software is quite powerful, it’s much less accessible for a beginner like me. Without spoiling the next video, a couple of thinks I don’t like are the size of the honeycomb (wish it were a bit larger with a more click-in fit) and not having enough space under to effectively clear smoke. I also wish there was a home button on the unit that could automatically move the laser to one of the back corners for honeycomb and material management as well as control over the fan as I don’t think it runs long enough after the cut. On the positive side, I absolutely love the beginner friendliness of the unit and XCS software. Setting the focus with the pin is amazing and something that wasn’t great on the Creality and the pinpointing layout method is also quite amazing. I have seen some people use the mobile app with a camera-like function but I haven’t tried that myself. I do plan on getting the riser base and potentially rotor tool so I can play around with other things but the main thing I want to address is managing the smoke as right now I just pipe it out my garage door.
@@MasonWoodshopI can’t wait for your next video. Not sure if you’re aware, but I too am a TH-cam content creator, and once I learned you were also going to do a video on the laser, I decided there was no need for me to make one. You've been doing such an awesome job. I’m not into numbers; I just love to share my points of view on all sorts of products. That said, I may have an answer to address the smoke: the Genmitsu MD13 Smoke Purifier. This is perfect for the S1. The S1 hose fits right on the air filter without needing any clamps. I will admit, I haven’t done any heavy cutting and engraving to determine how adequately the purifier draws the smoke, but it seems to do a great job for what I’ve been doing at the moment. And its price tag is not insane. Again, my friend, I’m looking forward to another amazing video from you and will definitely be sending folks over to watch 👍😎 Genmitsu MD13 Smoke Purifier: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTHPMYWP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
@@LouRao Looks like you have quite the collection of videos, nicely done! Big thanks for the link to the purifier, that's a solution I'm definitely going to consider as it seems to be similar to a few of the other purifiers out there but at about half the price. I'm deciding between going with an inline fan to an outside vent or going the purification route. The only thing I don't like about the purifiers is the cost of replacement filters.
This is my first laser cutter/engraver and I'd been having so much fun playing around with it the past few weeks. Leave a comment below with any topics on laser cutters and engravers that you would like me to cover in potential future videos.
HELP! Received the S1 the other day. Everything works, but framing. Each time I select framing the button light changes for just 3 seconds and goes back to white. Within the three seconds, click it and nothing. I down graded the beta software to the last version and didn’t help. S1 updated to the latest firmware. Pin Pointing system works. Cutting works. Engraving works. But, the framing doesn’t work. I call support and it was horrible. Any ideas why I can’t get the framing to work on my S1? Thank you.
Interesting! With the pinpointing system I haven’t found the need to use the framing feature and I do recall the few times I tried it in the software that nothing happened but I didn’t think too much about it. I’ll check mine again this evening to see if it works.
@@MasonWoodshop If you can I would really appreciate it. There are times I would like to use the framing. Plus, for what I paid for this system it should work. Again, any feedback is appreciated. And Thanks for replying- means a lot!
@LouRao I just did a test of this and didn't have any issues. Other than setting the material distance, I didn't have to set anything else to get it to work. Here's a short video I put together: th-cam.com/video/SrWhwk0pqh4/w-d-xo.html
I’m glad you expressed that concern and I completely understand the sentiment. This is my first time doing such a video and the reality is that I’m amazed by what it (and likely other lasers) can do. I have been building up my experience with it over the past couple of weeks and there some shortcomings that I’ll share in my review video. As for getting started as a laser newbie, this has been a great gateway into that hobby.
Using a laser or CNC is not woodworking. It’s no more than manufacturing…..it’s how IKEA and other manufacturers are able to churn out millions of identical items. Unsubscribed…
I agree that’s it’s not woodworking in a traditional sense, but using it to augment other woodworking makes it more of an accessory than anything. Other than the occasional craft for family and friends (which has been kind of fun the past couple of weeks), the primary use is going to be engraving my logo on items. Thanks for watching and sorry to see you go.
@@MasonWoodshop …I appreciate your response. I’ve no problem with a maker using a laser to engrave a logo, to my mind that’s not much different from using a branding iron. In the same vein, I regularly watch a violin maker’s channel, and he uses a modified laser (I think he’s lowered the power somehow) to do nothing more than burn a very shallow cutting line….not much different than using carbon paper. He then shapes the wood using traditional tools….the end result being dependent on his skill. Given what you’ve said, I’ve resubscribed. What I’m really tired of is these “makers” who think they’ve got a special skill because they can assemble parts that are produced by a laser or CNC…I’ve had enough of that nonsense.
Thank you for your response as well! I think we're very much on the same page and while there are an infinite number of cool things you can do with lasers, it's very much a software or CAD skill that produces those works, not woodworking skill - unless you count putting a sheet of 3mm plywood into a machine woodworking, haha!
I need one of these in my life. I have literally spend all afternoon today trying to cut a sunflower out of Basswood with my Maker. It has not gone well at all. Alot of hours wasted on one gift.
I have heard some of these machines will also still cut vinyl to essentially replace ones Cricut all together. I have alot of research to do. I very much appreciate your video.
It can be very frustrating working with a machine that isn't up to the task! You are definitely on the right track - a 20W laser will cut through basswood like butter.
The two watt laser is not just a less powerful laser. It is a completely different type of laser it is meant for engraving into metals. The 20 w and a 40 watt are diode lasers which are great for leather or wood or acrylic. But to reiterate they are completely different types of lasers.
Thank you for your demonstration. If you buy the risers I would appreciate seeing you cut after it is put on the risers. Also demonstrate how to engrave on glass etc
Thanks for watching! I just recently posted a video with the riser base installed. I haven’t yet filmed a demo of working with glass, but that’s a great recommendation!
I am just as excited as you were just got mine today. I was so confused about the power for the airpump i thought id lost and was looking for it everywhere
Haha, glad I wasn’t the only one. Enjoy the tool, it’s great!!!
I love mine. I like to make miniatures among other things and it makes it so much fun!
It was a nice video, very clear on guidance and extremely helpful, but consider on slowing down when going from your MacBook to the laser to prevent dizziness.
Thanks for sharing.
Very much appreciate that feedback! I’m in the middle of filming a couple of things and will take that into consideration.
should I get the 20w to start or 40w? I want to make wedding invitations with it too. I see that the cutting on this machine cuts them perfect. I got a Cricut machine and this will take it to another level.
Good question! The 20W would definitely be able to do what you want, but the extra versatility of the 40W + 2W IR (I believe a few of the 40W bundles include the 2W) makes it a great duo.
I did have a company reach out to give me a laser as well, but I haven’t taken it because they wanted two videos of at least a certain length. I would like to have a laser so that I could personalize things by putting my logo on it and I wouldn’t mind using it to etch glass panels for wall hung whiskey cabinets as well. Cool video let me know if you try to use it on glass.
Thanks for watching and commenting, Gary! I've been playing with a bunch of material, but have yet to try glass but now I'm very curious to try it.
It has to fail. Diode lasers can’t do transparent materials and only do acrylics of certain colors. You would need a CO2 laser. The by far best beginner and pro diode laser for organic materials would be the Roly Lasermatic MK2. For Lasers precision is everything.
@@crowguy506 I know very little about lasers at this time but I thought it worked if you painted the glass with water soluble paint first (like tempera paint) to allow the laser to focus. When finished you just rinse the paint off.
@@garynelles it does
@@jackbauer628 cool!
Love this Cole,can’t wait to see what you make with this!
Would you please show the air assist when you get it. I have to have mine in the basement. No way to vent outdoors. Thanks.
Yes! By air assist, I assume you mean smoke extractor in that context. I just got mine a few days ago and plan to put it through its paces and should have a video out on it in a week or two.
Awesome video! You just helped solve my problem and I successfully engraved my first print!
That’s amazing and I’m happy I could help! Enjoy the laser, it’s such a fun tool that’s very empowered by the XCS software.
Can this laser a gun and magazine
@@johnnymensi3004 Unfortunately you can't engrave metal with a diode laser, so you'd be better off looking at fibre lasers.
One concern that I have been researching has to do with some bad reviews regarding xTool Post-Sale support. Frankly, I do not mind paying more for a laser but I want to get what I pay for including good customer response. This may be a tough one to measure but are you hearing anything regarding lack of response when you need xTool post-sale support? BTW New subscriber and very good video.
Thanks for watching and subscribing! I've had to use support for a grounding issue that I had with my riser base (it ended up being my own fault) and found that support was quite good with responses being ~24 hours from my initiation and responding to xTool. They had a good problem solving process and were quick to send new screws to me once we exhausted the couple of things they wanted me to check. It's always possible that I received preferential treatment due to making videos, but I never got the sense that they knew of that involvement.
@@MasonWoodshop Thanks for such a quick response.
great reviews！I was wondering how the s1 compares to acmer p3.
Thanks for watching! I hadn't heard of the ACMER P3 but just took a look and it's a nice looking enclosed laser. I'd imagine the experience would be similar to what I had with my Creality Falcon2 Pro where the unit and laser itself are great, but dialing in the focus and settings takes some trial and error. Likely great for those experienced with lasers, but the xTool S1 is in a class of it's own as far as ease of use using their XCS software. Of course, this is all my opinion as a laser beginner.
do you think you could cut carbon fiber cloth (just the raw cloth off a roll) with the laser?
Interesting question! I just looked up using a diode laser for carbon cloth and other items like Kevlar and it doesn’t seem like they have enough power or the right laser to do so. I see some references to CNCs and electric scissors, but that’s a space I know nothing about.
Now that I have the S1 doing framing without any issues as shown in your video made for me, are there any shortcoming you can share about the S1 that you don’t like? I’m still debating whether to keep it or not. For me, I don’t like that the honeycomb tray has a tendency to shift during lasering. Additionally, there is a gap between the honeycomb tray and the unit, which is a waste of space. They could have made the honeycomb tray longer to fit the unused space. And because the honeycomb isn’t as big as the unit xTool’s could had condensed the unit frame smaller where it wouldn’t be so oversized. A lot of waste of material.
I’m not a fan of LightBurn; however, I do like xTool’s proprietary software. xTool software reminds me of Cricut Design Space, which I am very comfortable using. I’m the type of person who likes things to look pleasing, be easy to use, and functional all at the same time, which is why I use Apple products. LightBurn is powerful and can do a lot, but visually, it's awful. User-friendly? Not at all. LightBurn has too many steps to complete one task, with too much redundancy in the software.
I also like xTool’s precise positioning and would love to have a camera as well. I am going to see how accurate the precise positioning is later today by engraving pencils and toothpicks. If there are any drawbacks for precise positioning when doing batching, it will be time-consuming. This is where a camera would come in handy.
Otherwise, I too need to put it through several tests to determine if it is worth the $2,200 I paid for. I will provide updates. 😎
That’s great you got the framing to work! I’ve been using the S1 a lot over the past month on many different materials (including glass and stainless steel) with great success. I am planning to post a review video on or around May 31 where I’ll note what I like and what I don’t like.
Like you, I really like the XCS software and I think we’re both lucky to have experience the v2.0 version as the previous seemed to get a lot of negative feedback. I’ve been using Lightburn while testing the Creality Falcon2 Pro laser and while the software is quite powerful, it’s much less accessible for a beginner like me.
Without spoiling the next video, a couple of thinks I don’t like are the size of the honeycomb (wish it were a bit larger with a more click-in fit) and not having enough space under to effectively clear smoke. I also wish there was a home button on the unit that could automatically move the laser to one of the back corners for honeycomb and material management as well as control over the fan as I don’t think it runs long enough after the cut.
On the positive side, I absolutely love the beginner friendliness of the unit and XCS software. Setting the focus with the pin is amazing and something that wasn’t great on the Creality and the pinpointing layout method is also quite amazing. I have seen some people use the mobile app with a camera-like function but I haven’t tried that myself.
I do plan on getting the riser base and potentially rotor tool so I can play around with other things but the main thing I want to address is managing the smoke as right now I just pipe it out my garage door.
@@MasonWoodshopI can’t wait for your next video. Not sure if you’re aware, but I too am a TH-cam content creator, and once I learned you were also going to do a video on the laser, I decided there was no need for me to make one. You've been doing such an awesome job. I’m not into numbers; I just love to share my points of view on all sorts of products.
That said, I may have an answer to address the smoke: the Genmitsu MD13 Smoke Purifier. This is perfect for the S1. The S1 hose fits right on the air filter without needing any clamps. I will admit, I haven’t done any heavy cutting and engraving to determine how adequately the purifier draws the smoke, but it seems to do a great job for what I’ve been doing at the moment. And its price tag is not insane.
Again, my friend, I’m looking forward to another amazing video from you and will definitely be sending folks over to watch 👍😎
Genmitsu MD13 Smoke Purifier:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTHPMYWP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
@@LouRao Looks like you have quite the collection of videos, nicely done! Big thanks for the link to the purifier, that's a solution I'm definitely going to consider as it seems to be similar to a few of the other purifiers out there but at about half the price. I'm deciding between going with an inline fan to an outside vent or going the purification route. The only thing I don't like about the purifiers is the cost of replacement filters.
the grease is for the rails
Thanks! That makes sense.
This is my first laser cutter/engraver and I'd been having so much fun playing around with it the past few weeks. Leave a comment below with any topics on laser cutters and engravers that you would like me to cover in potential future videos.
HELP! Received the S1 the other day. Everything works, but framing. Each time I select framing the button light changes for just 3 seconds and goes back to white. Within the three seconds, click it and nothing. I down graded the beta software to the last version and didn’t help. S1 updated to the latest firmware. Pin Pointing system works. Cutting works. Engraving works. But, the framing doesn’t work. I call support and it was horrible. Any ideas why I can’t get the framing to work on my S1? Thank you.
Interesting! With the pinpointing system I haven’t found the need to use the framing feature and I do recall the few times I tried it in the software that nothing happened but I didn’t think too much about it.
I’ll check mine again this evening to see if it works.
@@MasonWoodshop If you can I would really appreciate it. There are times I would like to use the framing. Plus, for what I paid for this system it should work. Again, any feedback is appreciated. And Thanks for replying- means a lot!
@LouRao I just did a test of this and didn't have any issues. Other than setting the material distance, I didn't have to set anything else to get it to work. Here's a short video I put together: th-cam.com/video/SrWhwk0pqh4/w-d-xo.html
Something tells me he’s Canadian.
Haha, guilty!
Looks a bit nippy in there
🤣
Of course ur gonna praise it, they paid you and gave you only for free. 🤷🏻♂️
I’m glad you expressed that concern and I completely understand the sentiment. This is my first time doing such a video and the reality is that I’m amazed by what it (and likely other lasers) can do. I have been building up my experience with it over the past couple of weeks and there some shortcomings that I’ll share in my review video. As for getting started as a laser newbie, this has been a great gateway into that hobby.
Using a laser or CNC is not woodworking. It’s no more than manufacturing…..it’s how IKEA and other manufacturers are able to churn out millions of identical items. Unsubscribed…
I agree that’s it’s not woodworking in a traditional sense, but using it to augment other woodworking makes it more of an accessory than anything. Other than the occasional craft for family and friends (which has been kind of fun the past couple of weeks), the primary use is going to be engraving my logo on items.
Thanks for watching and sorry to see you go.
@@MasonWoodshop …I appreciate your response. I’ve no problem with a maker using a laser to engrave a logo, to my mind that’s not much different from using a branding iron. In the same vein, I regularly watch a violin maker’s channel, and he uses a modified laser (I think he’s lowered the power somehow) to do nothing more than burn a very shallow cutting line….not much different than using carbon paper. He then shapes the wood using traditional tools….the end result being dependent on his skill. Given what you’ve said, I’ve resubscribed. What I’m really tired of is these “makers” who think they’ve got a special skill because they can assemble parts that are produced by a laser or CNC…I’ve had enough of that nonsense.
Thank you for your response as well! I think we're very much on the same page and while there are an infinite number of cool things you can do with lasers, it's very much a software or CAD skill that produces those works, not woodworking skill - unless you count putting a sheet of 3mm plywood into a machine woodworking, haha!
It is woodworking, ie, working with wood. What you mean is, it's not carpentry.
@@SteveRoberts1 Sooooo…..using your definition…cutting a branch off of a tree would qualify as “woodworking”, because it is “working with wood”?