00:00:00
so xtool has finally done it they've
00:00:03
pretty much eliminated all of the main
00:00:05
issues we've had with diode lasers in
00:00:07
the past with this guy right here the X
00:00:10
tool S1 this might be one of the most
00:00:13
popular lasers that you can buy we're
00:00:15
going to get into all of its features as
00:00:17
well as the top four reasons why I think
00:00:19
this could be a great option for you and
00:00:21
as always a quick caveat before we get
00:00:23
going X tool was kind enough to send me
00:00:25
this machine they are not paying me to
00:00:27
do this review but if you do decide to
00:00:29
pick up one of these machines from xtool
00:00:31
I do get a kickback so take that with a
00:00:33
grain of salt as we talk about this
00:00:36
machine we finally
00:00:37
have an actual enclosure compared to
00:00:40
something like the X tool this one's
00:00:42
Dusty D1 Pro this is the open Gantry
00:00:46
design so obviously there is no
00:00:47
enclosure this has been very popular a
00:00:50
lot of people have been picking this up
00:00:52
but there's always been that huge
00:00:53
drawback so having this full enclosure
00:00:55
and lid helps to fix that problem so
00:00:58
let's go through the specs real quick
00:00:59
before I give you my four big advantages
00:01:01
of this machine and the one big drawback
00:01:04
so in terms of the machine you can see
00:01:07
This is 40 Watts they actually have
00:01:09
interchangeable modules you can both get
00:01:11
a 40 and a 20 W laser diode module which
00:01:14
is just going to have a different number
00:01:15
of laser diodes inside as well as a 2
00:01:18
wat IR module you're going to buy that
00:01:20
if you're wanting to do something with
00:01:22
metal that's going to be able to engrave
00:01:23
directly on it it's going to work with a
00:01:25
different wavelength in terms of the
00:01:27
speed we're looking at 600 mm/ second
00:01:29
second which definitely puts it at the
00:01:31
top end in terms of these diode machines
00:01:33
but it's not the absolute top end that
00:01:35
you can find with dodes and then
00:01:37
especially once you jump into co2's
00:01:39
you're going to see those potentially in
00:01:40
the 900 and up mm/ second range now this
00:01:43
enclosure now means this is a Class one
00:01:46
laser it has some pretty cool safety
00:01:48
features we'll talk about here in a
00:01:49
second but even with that enclosure you
00:01:52
still have a pretty substantial work
00:01:54
area inside and that is 19.6 by
00:01:57
12.5 in I I've got a honeycomb bed that
00:02:01
is an accessory that is inside of here
00:02:04
um but you can actually remove that they
00:02:05
give you a couple different options so
00:02:07
it does have a pretty good thickness in
00:02:08
terms of the z-axis you can also get a
00:02:11
riser accessory that works directly with
00:02:13
this machine uh you're going to need to
00:02:15
get that if you want to get the rotary
00:02:16
but we'll talk about the accessories
00:02:18
also here in a sec in terms of software
00:02:20
you're going to be able to use their own
00:02:22
software so the xtool creative space uh
00:02:25
which really has become a nice piece of
00:02:28
software they have been building this
00:02:29
out over the last several years I
00:02:31
remember seeing it with the original
00:02:32
xtool D1 uh and it did a pretty good job
00:02:35
but it has come Leaps and Bounds
00:02:37
especially when they release the xtool
00:02:39
P2 so their CO2 laser and a lot of those
00:02:42
features they carry over to this but not
00:02:45
only can you use it with their software
00:02:46
you can also use it with lightburn as
00:02:48
well that is my favorite piece of
00:02:50
software and it works great in fact I
00:02:51
was doing a lot of my normal test files
00:02:54
with light bur directly through this
00:02:56
machine so everything is great you can
00:02:58
connect by USB as well as as by Wi-Fi
00:03:01
but unlike the glow Forge you don't have
00:03:03
to be connected to the internet in order
00:03:04
to get this thing to work in terms of
00:03:07
like the physical interface or buttons
00:03:09
of this machine you only have one and
00:03:11
that is this guy right here you're going
00:03:13
to use that for a couple different
00:03:14
things but mainly you're going to use it
00:03:15
to be able to do the frame function to
00:03:17
where you get a trace around wherever
00:03:19
you're going to engrave or cut out as
00:03:21
well as starting the actual laser on the
00:03:24
back you have fans because again you
00:03:26
have an enclosure so you can actually
00:03:28
have an exhaust system that is built in
00:03:30
I didn't actually hook up the tube that
00:03:31
it came with just because I was testing
00:03:32
it out something you can't do with those
00:03:34
open Gantry designs you have to get some
00:03:36
type of enclosure to be able to do that
00:03:38
and then this guy also comes with a air
00:03:41
assist and the lack of this was really
00:03:42
one of the first drawbacks with these
00:03:44
laser diodes to start with and then they
00:03:46
started offering these like aftermarket
00:03:47
designs and then eventually they started
00:03:49
to integrate them into the overall
00:03:51
machine itself um this still is an
00:03:53
external unit I do wish this was
00:03:55
something they could include internally
00:03:57
but that would also bulk up the machine
00:03:58
as a result um but this one is nice
00:04:01
because it is controlled from the
00:04:02
machine itself so it will turn on and
00:04:04
off as needed and it can also control
00:04:06
the intensity and also I like that has
00:04:08
rubber feet meaning that it's not going
00:04:10
to wobble all over the place like I've
00:04:12
had in the past all right so the four
00:04:14
big advantages I see with this machine
00:04:17
compared to everything else you see from
00:04:19
xtool and a lot of what you see from
00:04:21
other manufacturers the first is the
00:04:24
enclosure which we've already talked
00:04:25
about but outside of the obvious fact
00:04:27
that it encloses everything that is
00:04:28
going on I like the lid design um this
00:04:31
is probably like a polycarbonate uh so
00:04:33
it's not glass or anything but it is
00:04:36
coated so the same thing that you're
00:04:37
going to get with the glasses that they
00:04:38
normally provide with these lasers
00:04:40
meaning that it's going to block out all
00:04:42
the light also it may not be showing up
00:04:44
on camera as much but this goes pretty
00:04:46
far back uh and then you also have the
00:04:48
section in the front meaning there's a
00:04:50
lot of angles you can watch this from
00:04:52
when it's doing its work and even when I
00:04:54
compare this to some of the CO2 machines
00:04:56
that obviously have big enclosures and a
00:04:57
lot of times the tops are glass this
00:04:59
does does a really nice job just letting
00:05:00
you see what's going on and just like
00:05:02
cosmetically the green with like the
00:05:04
matte black looks pretty cool but a few
00:05:06
other things that come with this is the
00:05:07
fact that you do have a sensor from the
00:05:09
lid that if this opens it's going to cut
00:05:12
power to the laser so you cannot have
00:05:14
this open and running and that is a huge
00:05:17
thing that has always been a drawback in
00:05:19
the past especially now that we are
00:05:21
getting into the 40 W range that is a
00:05:23
lot of power and a lot of light that you
00:05:25
want to protect yourself from and
00:05:26
obviously all of the fumes and the
00:05:28
exhaust and all that kind of stuff is is
00:05:29
a huge Advantage being able to have all
00:05:31
that contained a few other things they
00:05:33
have with this on the safety side of
00:05:34
things there's actually an emergency
00:05:35
stop I don't think you can see it on the
00:05:37
camera but it's on the back right side
00:05:40
so there's a physical switch that you
00:05:41
can push in and there's also these
00:05:43
little semicircle Clear Eye looking guys
00:05:45
there's five of them three in the back
00:05:47
and two in the front and these are
00:05:49
actually fire sensors and so it can tell
00:05:51
if a fire is happening it's going to cut
00:05:53
power to the machine as well um this is
00:05:56
the nicest implementation of this idea
00:05:58
I've seen even the newer open Gantry
00:06:00
diode machines will have a sensor or two
00:06:02
in there uh but these seem to be the
00:06:04
most robust I haven't actually tested it
00:06:06
out to see if it works but from the
00:06:08
setup this looks to be the nicest so the
00:06:10
enclosure is Big Advantage number one
00:06:12
and the big Advantage number two is the
00:06:15
interchangeability of the laser modules
00:06:18
themselves so I have the 40 W module
00:06:19
that is set up with this but you can
00:06:21
also buy this with a 20 WT module as
00:06:23
well I believe it's like a $5 to $600
00:06:25
difference when you upgrade to the 40
00:06:27
wat but you also have the ability to add
00:06:30
on that IR module that is about 2 watts
00:06:33
and exol has actually provided some IR
00:06:35
modules in the past that you can get
00:06:36
with their open Gantry designs again
00:06:38
These are nice because you can use them
00:06:39
to Mark directly on metal they're
00:06:41
basically like a different wavelength
00:06:42
with the way the laser works so that's
00:06:44
great that you have that option but even
00:06:46
if the cost wasn't a factor to you you
00:06:48
might actually want to have a 20 W
00:06:50
module instead of a 40 or even have the
00:06:52
option and that's because the laser dot
00:06:55
is going to be smaller with a 20 W
00:06:58
module and that's because the power from
00:06:59
these is generated not from a single
00:07:01
Source like with a CO2 machine where you
00:07:03
have a big glass CO2 on the back but you
00:07:05
have individual laser diodes that are
00:07:07
shot together they're combined and then
00:07:09
shot and as you combine those together
00:07:11
the laser dot so like physically how
00:07:13
wide that laser dot is when it fires
00:07:15
gets bigger and bigger so what that
00:07:17
means is if you're doing fine engraving
00:07:19
the 20 W module might be your better
00:07:21
option because you don't actually need a
00:07:23
ton of power to get the engrave effect
00:07:25
and you're going to have a thinner line
00:07:27
as a result but even at 40 Watts you
00:07:29
still can do nice laser engraves and the
00:07:32
third big advantage of this machine is
00:07:34
something it is stealing from the CO2
00:07:36
machines and that has to do with this
00:07:39
little needle right over here which
00:07:41
actually can take off uh and this is how
00:07:44
you are going to get Focus so this is a
00:07:47
touch probe it's actually spring-loaded
00:07:49
on the back uh and it can pop off and
00:07:51
that's just in case it's going to run
00:07:52
into something as it's going so it
00:07:54
doesn't get everything caught up but
00:07:56
that guy actually serves three different
00:07:58
functions first is going to allow you to
00:08:00
obviously get Focus most of the times
00:08:02
the touch probe is usually the easiest
00:08:04
as well as the best way to do it you can
00:08:06
see right now kind of what the process
00:08:08
is it pops it down touches off and then
00:08:10
it's going to raise the entire module up
00:08:12
just a little bit and then the module is
00:08:13
going to move to the back right corner
00:08:15
where there's basically a little reset
00:08:16
point where this just pushes back down
00:08:18
on locks it in and then it's good to go
00:08:21
now that Focus process is compared to
00:08:23
what we see with the xtool D1 Pro we
00:08:25
have that little lever that's built into
00:08:27
laser module itself and you can slide it
00:08:28
down but then you have to physically
00:08:30
adjust the module up and down to where
00:08:33
you have the right Focus point this one
00:08:35
you don't have to do that now the second
00:08:36
feature with that touch probe is it's
00:08:38
also what you're going to use if you're
00:08:40
doing anything with a curved surface
00:08:42
this is something that's pretty unique
00:08:44
to xtool uh both on the CO2 and the
00:08:47
diode side of things you can basically
00:08:48
put in any type of curved surface so not
00:08:51
just like a cylinder that you're going
00:08:52
to rotate with a rotary but like a
00:08:54
little bowl or in my case I will just
00:08:56
put something in there and have it like
00:08:57
ramped up and the software will create a
00:08:59
a grid of point and it's going to
00:09:01
measure the distance on the Z of each of
00:09:03
those points so basically kind of figure
00:09:05
out what is the shape of your material
00:09:07
and then it can engrave as a result so
00:09:09
when it actually goes to especially
00:09:11
engrave it is automatically going to
00:09:13
move the laser up and down as it's going
00:09:15
and you can kind of see what that looks
00:09:16
like inside of the software right here
00:09:19
and here is the example of it running
00:09:21
when I did have that board propped up
00:09:23
it's kind of hard to tell but if you
00:09:24
look at the spring on the side of the
00:09:26
laser module you can see that it is
00:09:28
going up and down as we're going side to
00:09:30
side on the material they have a lot of
00:09:32
really good examples on the website of
00:09:34
people again doing these with bowls
00:09:35
where it's more pronounced but been able
00:09:37
to hold that Focus throughout the
00:09:40
engrave is really really nice if you're
00:09:42
working with anything that's going to
00:09:43
need it like that now the last feature
00:09:45
with the touch probe has to do with
00:09:47
positioning so let's say you have a
00:09:49
piece of material you drop it in there
00:09:51
you have artwork inside of the software
00:09:54
but you need to figure out where is that
00:09:55
artwork going to go in relation to your
00:09:58
material there a bunch of different ways
00:10:00
to do it XEL still does it one of the
00:10:01
most common ways and that is with a red
00:10:03
laser dot in fact it's actually a
00:10:05
Crosshair which is a little bit more
00:10:07
handing than just a single dot
00:10:08
especially if you're wanting to get
00:10:09
things square and so wherever that red
00:10:11
laser dot is going to be you can do an
00:10:13
image Trace which will just run the
00:10:14
laser head around the border of whatever
00:10:16
your artwork is and you can get it
00:10:18
positioned from there but it also does
00:10:19
it a different way with the touch probe
00:10:21
itself where basically takes two points
00:10:24
on the bottom left and then the bottom
00:10:25
right and then you're able to see
00:10:27
basically the rectangle or Square that
00:10:29
that creates inside of the software and
00:10:31
place the artwork on top of it so in
00:10:33
this example I was just writing ruler on
00:10:35
this ruler and if I wanted to figure out
00:10:38
exactly where to get this lined up it's
00:10:40
really helpful to know where this is in
00:10:42
relation to the work bed so that's
00:10:44
exactly what I did I basically found
00:10:46
those two points made the rectangle put
00:10:48
the artwork inside and I was good to go
00:10:50
now the other way to do that visually is
00:10:52
by an actual camera feed and that is
00:10:54
something this does not have so there is
00:10:56
no camera integration but this is kind
00:10:58
of the other option that are giv you to
00:11:00
do this and my experience by actually
00:11:02
doing the physical measurement um that
00:11:04
is going to be more exact than what the
00:11:06
camera feed is going to give you and the
00:11:08
fourth big Advantage is going to be
00:11:10
something that xtool has been building
00:11:12
up over the years and that is just the
00:11:14
full line of accessories that they offer
00:11:17
where most of them will work with this
00:11:19
machine I've already mentioned the Riser
00:11:21
so you're going to get a thicker z-axis
00:11:23
you're going to use that a lot of times
00:11:24
if you're going to be using the rotary
00:11:26
which again is another accessory that
00:11:27
you can plug in directly to the machine
00:11:30
they also have a fire system I'm not
00:11:32
totally sure how that works but there's
00:11:34
actually a port for it in the back that
00:11:37
actually might be what Hooks up to the
00:11:38
sensors in the front but they also have
00:11:41
a exhaust filter meaning you can take
00:11:43
your exhaust tube directly into this
00:11:46
unit and have it completely contained
00:11:48
inside and the honeycomb bed that I have
00:11:50
in there right now is also an add-on
00:11:52
that you can include if you want and
00:11:54
currently they're also saying that the
00:11:55
air assist is a add-on as well and right
00:11:58
now it's actually packaged with the
00:12:00
machine but they're kind of advertising
00:12:01
it as a bonus that you get with it I
00:12:03
hope they always include this with the
00:12:05
machine and not just make it a separate
00:12:07
purchase so people don't just wind up
00:12:08
getting a 40 W laser diode that has no
00:12:11
air assist whatsoever cuz that could be
00:12:13
super dangerous but I could kind of see
00:12:15
if you're using again that two wide IR
00:12:17
module you're really not going to need
00:12:18
air assist as much you actually don't
00:12:20
use air assist a ton if you're going to
00:12:22
be doing engraving cuz this is going to
00:12:23
give you a little cleaner engrave but
00:12:25
you definitely want the air assist if
00:12:26
you're going to be doing any type of
00:12:28
cutting with that high power laser oh
00:12:30
and one thing I have forgotten to
00:12:32
mention is uh it does have the work area
00:12:34
that we already mentioned but you can
00:12:36
also use the conveyor belt which is
00:12:38
something they first came out with the
00:12:40
P2 which extends it in the Y AIS but to
00:12:44
like 3,000 mm so whatever that is
00:12:46
converted to inches and the conveyor
00:12:48
belt will automatically run it through
00:12:50
the machine so basically gives you a
00:12:51
pass through on the front and the back
00:12:53
and you'd have to use that alongside of
00:12:55
the riser to be able to get it to work
00:12:57
but again that's something they've
00:12:58
brought over from the P2 which is a
00:13:00
really cool feature uh let's talk about
00:13:02
kind of the single disadvantage that I
00:13:04
see currently for this machine that is
00:13:06
the fact there is no camera and to be
00:13:08
honest it's a little bit odd I mean I
00:13:11
get that if you're coming from the D1
00:13:13
Pro there's no camera there the P2 which
00:13:15
is way more expensive than this machine
00:13:17
does have a camera but their M1 so it's
00:13:19
a smaller allc contained laser diode
00:13:22
that thing's only 10 watts it also has a
00:13:24
vinyl cutter it's kind of like a Cricut
00:13:26
plus a diode laser that one does have a
00:13:28
camera that is in integrated and other
00:13:29
than just like General positioning the
00:13:31
camera does do some cool stuff we if
00:13:33
you're engraving the same thing on a
00:13:34
bunch of different things so like if
00:13:36
you're doing a bunch of uh logos on name
00:13:38
tags you can kind of just put the name
00:13:40
tags in there willy-nilly and it will
00:13:42
auto place all of those on there so
00:13:44
coming to this Sky it's a little bit
00:13:45
surprising that the camera is not
00:13:47
integrated and honestly don't even know
00:13:49
if it's a cost thing it might just be
00:13:50
more of like where would you place it in
00:13:52
terms of how they have this thing
00:13:54
designed but I will say what they've
00:13:56
done with that two-point positioning
00:13:58
with the touch probe which they do not
00:13:59
have on any of the other machines and in
00:14:01
terms of reliability that's going to be
00:14:03
your best bet and actually on all of my
00:14:05
bigger CO2 machines a lot of those don't
00:14:07
even have cameras as well uh because
00:14:10
they know you're going to be using the
00:14:11
other methods which are going to be more
00:14:13
accurate and more reliable at the end of
00:14:15
the day so for me it's not a massive con
00:14:18
but if that's something that you're just
00:14:19
expecting when you come to a fully
00:14:21
enclosed laser machine you're want to
00:14:23
see a camera feed from it just know
00:14:24
that's not what you're going to get from
00:14:26
this guy Okay so we've talked about some
00:14:27
of the other machines from X tool but
00:14:29
let's actually compare those to the S1
00:14:31
so first let's talk about the D1 Pro
00:14:34
obviously the biggest Advantage is this
00:14:36
is fully enclosed as well as that touch
00:14:38
probe the d1's work area could be a
00:14:40
little bit bigger uh depending on how
00:14:42
you look at it it's basically like 15 1
00:14:44
12 x 15 1/2 in versus the 19.6 x 12.5
00:14:48
but as of right now the S1 is going to
00:14:50
be the most powerful between the two you
00:14:53
can do different laser modules on the D1
00:14:55
Pro they did offer a 40 wat that's
00:14:57
actually what's on the one I have right
00:14:59
now but when I just went to the website
00:15:01
I'm just seeing the 20 watt and
00:15:02
sometimes the 10 watt option so I don't
00:15:04
even know if they are providing that
00:15:06
anymore so if you want 40 WTS with a
00:15:08
laser diode this is going to be your
00:15:10
only option but the D1 Pro is going to
00:15:12
win out in terms of price you're at
00:15:14
about $ 1200 bucks for 10 watts and
00:15:16
again $2,000 for this 40 watt option
00:15:19
okay but what if you want to compare
00:15:20
this to the P2 I've also done a full
00:15:23
review of that machine I actually have
00:15:24
it right off camera and it's not on
00:15:26
Wheels and it's really big and heavy so
00:15:28
I'm not to pull it over and that's one
00:15:30
of the first advantages of this machine
00:15:32
is this it's not like portable portable
00:15:35
but you can definitely pick it up and
00:15:36
move around if you have to the P2 is a
00:15:39
big machine once you get it in its spot
00:15:41
it's basically going to be there it's
00:15:43
pretty hard to move around it's also
00:15:45
much more expensive uh currently at the
00:15:47
time of this recording it's like
00:15:49
$4,500 so more than twice the cost of
00:15:52
this machine with that you do get a
00:15:54
nicer overall build it's actually a
00:15:57
metal frame um versus like a hard
00:15:59
plastic that you have with this guy and
00:16:02
the biggest difference is the fact that
00:16:03
you're going from a diode machine to a
00:16:05
CO2 machine I've talked a lot about
00:16:07
those differences in the past actually
00:16:09
did a full breakdown of all the
00:16:11
different machines that you can get if
00:16:12
you're kind of wondering like even what
00:16:14
type of machine should I go to there's a
00:16:16
link right up there if you want to check
00:16:17
that out but long story short co2's are
00:16:20
going to be really great for cutting
00:16:21
it's also going to let you do materials
00:16:23
like clear acrylic or like etching on
00:16:25
glass which you can't do with a diode
00:16:27
where diode machine are really great for
00:16:29
Engraving but you can cut thinner
00:16:31
material especially with a 40 W module
00:16:34
the PT's work area is also bigger as
00:16:36
well just the fact that it is a bigger
00:16:38
machine but when it actually comes to
00:16:41
the software other than the fact that
00:16:42
the P2 has a camera pretty much all the
00:16:45
features are going to be the same so
00:16:47
that curved function that we talked
00:16:48
about earlier it also does that with the
00:16:50
P2 they're just going to use their I
00:16:52
think like infrared sensors to figure
00:16:53
out the focus and the P2 is going to be
00:16:55
faster in terms of overall speed but if
00:16:58
you're like I could get two of these
00:17:00
units for one of the P2 the uh the time
00:17:03
savings start to get pretty interesting
00:17:05
when you start to compare them directly
00:17:07
to each other because you're able to
00:17:08
double up which you can do with this guy
00:17:10
and then the last one to compare it to
00:17:12
is the M1 which is kind of like the step
00:17:15
brother of this whole line you don't see
00:17:17
as many people talk about this machine I
00:17:19
have done a full review of that one as
00:17:20
well as you want to check it out um
00:17:22
overall it's going to be your cheapest
00:17:24
option more than likely depending on how
00:17:26
exol has stuff packaged it's usually
00:17:28
around
00:17:29
$1,000 it is going to be fully enclosed
00:17:31
so just like with this guy but like we
00:17:33
talked about earlier probably the
00:17:35
biggest thing is going to be the fact
00:17:36
that it has that vinyl cutter so if
00:17:37
you're going to be doing stuff with
00:17:38
fabric or things where you just cannot
00:17:40
cut it out with a laser then that could
00:17:42
be a cool option but it's only going to
00:17:44
come with a 10 watt laser versus either
00:17:46
the 20 or the 40 that you can get with
00:17:49
this one and when you compare it to all
00:17:50
of the machines from xtool it's going to
00:17:52
have the smallest work area it kind of
00:17:54
feels the M1 is targeted a little bit
00:17:56
more at the crafting audience so those
00:17:58
are the machines from xtool but you can
00:18:01
also compare this to what we just talked
00:18:03
about in the last video that we create
00:18:06
Vision I'm not going to go blowby blow
00:18:08
between those two machines because
00:18:09
there's actually another one from
00:18:11
another company coming out very soon and
00:18:14
once it does I'm going to do a full
00:18:15
breakdown and give you my rankings but I
00:18:18
would love to know from you is the uh no
00:18:20
camera is that like a noo for you or
00:18:22
just finally having something that is
00:18:23
fully enclosed with all of the features
00:18:25
is that going to be a great option so
00:18:27
until next time go make a break
00:18:29
something in a shop see you
00:18:31
[Music]
00:18:37
[Applause]
00:18:41
guys
