Personal Review of the Samcraft Man - I liked his style both teaching and crafting - I liked the way he ran his shop so I already was sold on him for a resource. What I was not expecting was his incredible follow through, I bought some test file packages, which he has updated, and most importantly which he sent me without me looking for them. Man of his word, this is very hard to find in todays world
I have been watching several of your videos, particularly on the laser side of your business. I have to say that the quality and information given during each video is substantially higher than average. Thanks so much, and keep up the good work!
Wow - thanks for that video. I made some slate engravings in the past, but only in black/white. Now i did a material test and found out that you can achieve at least 30 different gold-tones , which is much more than in the grayscale range (only 4 to 10 shades). The golden shades even vary between matte (lighter, even) and sparkly (darker with lights spots) - this is great! 👍
I was wondering how much longer it was gonna take you to get the F1 lol You have been one of my favorites to watch because of the way you teach. You can your time get right to the point and not act all crazy. I ordered my F1 the beginning of May and still don't have it but hope to get it this month. Thanks again for another awesome video.
Please let us know how you like it. I really want that new P2 but it's just so far out there. Everything I bought was on release day (with every accessory) with the next product showing up for sale a week later (wish there was an upgrade offer). You can imagine how much I have tied up in my D! and D1 Pro all at full price. I could of waited and paid cash for the P2. Luckily it's just a hobby for me, to give stuff I make away to other less fortunate disabled Marine Corps Vets.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to share with me what you like. It's helpful for content but to also keep things the way people like them. :)
Thanks, Sam. Brand new to all of this but really like + appreciate the genuine heart and effort you put into your productions/ideas. Great stuff, My Brotha. Wish you guys the best
I just got mine today. It’s late so I’m going to set it up tomorrow. The packaging was phenomenal. I’m so happy that tomorrow is Saturday! This is my first laser cutter. I hope set up is easy.
Hey Sam do you have the atomstack A20? I have the A10 and really like it but I wanted more power to cut , so I purchased the A20 and so far I hate it I can’t get a nice clear engraving full of lines and distorted
Great information and Instructions are well presented, thank you. I do have a question though. I have an F1 and I bought your test file, I can't seem to get past the first square as there are sparks and my machine alarms me there is a possible fire. I have tried it three times and I have to restart each time. Any idea what can be causing this?
I'm not an engraver or laser anything person but I enjoyed this video...I'm a big fan of your other channel so anytime I see anything with y'all in it I watch.
As always thank you for bringing us along for the ride for both SamCraft and The Homested channels. On another note, should you find your shop becoming too cluttered with laser machines, I'd be happy to help out and take one off your hands. 😆😂🤣
I've been thinking lately what to do with the machines that are unused. I thought of doing auctions on my website with a base to cover shipping, then anything extra going straight to charity. That could let people get machines at a good price and also know that the money isn't going to me. Finding out shipping costs is the tricky part on most of these machines, but it's something I've been wondering about.
We just received our F1 and have found your youtube videos very helpful. Our intention is to use this machine for coasters. My question is with the bulk coasters variance. As a lifelong machinist I am separating these in +/- .02 groups for the laser. My wife thinks I am too critical, is there a rule of thumb here and am I overthinking this? Thank you for your help,
Nice job on the slate coasters. I have a question can you tell me what size exhaust hose is on the xtool f1 ? I live in california and we cannot purchase the fume extractor due to the unit not meeting CA air quality standards. I did manage to get a atomstack d2 air extractor which also now is not allowed to be shipped to CA I would like to hook that up to a F1 if I decide just to purchase the F1 by itself. Thanks
Sam, just downloaded your test card file. Hope to learn more about my new Xtool D1 Pro 20 Watt. If you have a video that can help me learn to engrave names or logos on the bodies of wooden pens I would love to know. I am a pen and bowl maker. Bought my D1 Pro 20W to customize pens and to sign, date, and identify the wood on my bowls. Thanks! Glad I found your channel! Robert
It's going to be trickier to do since the machine is much more powerful. I've not had great luck with it yet, but have also spent more time doing some fixes with my P2 so far. I have it dialed in now and am ready to begin putting it to work!
YOOO you got a subscriber for this one!!!👍👍👍 I seen some videos on slate and wondered if you could get a wider color range than just brown, tan and white.
Another great video! I'm getting the new Elegoo Phecda 20w diode setup soon (hopefully this month, kickstarter just ended) and you're giving me all kinda of ideas.
How are you getting more colors? You have every machine that's out there. Love you shows. I never know what you are going to pull out next. I need to start posting some of the stuff I made that I learned from you. I have one major question on lightburn, but I'll send it on your channel so it keeps your stats up.
It's really amazing to see this technology blossom! I thought of going down the focus/unfocus road with this video but figured I would keep it more simple for presentation and such. :)
Hello Sam thank you for sharing all the information you share. Both myself and my sister watch your other channel is well for your Green Acre Homestead. My question is about your Lightburn version test file. Because I'm new to working with a fiber laser is the Slate Engraving Color test file setup to only work on Slate or does the same file work for other materials like stainless steel as well? I just wasn't sure if the file settings were specific to help find the colors on slate. Thanks again
with the engraving test, does the f1 tool engrave it directly with the different powers? or you have to make per little square a layer? ( or did you make the layers? :) ) than big thanks .
This video landed you another subscriber! 🎉 Did you clean the coaster off afterward with anything? Do the colors come off when washed? Thank you-can’t wait to binge your other videos! 🤣
Since they combined the two heads into one unit that really brings the F1 to the front just behind the P2. 7 Min and multicolor, that is really cool. Using both heads in one design, that pretty awesome.
The upgrade to XCS a few months ago that added layers and some other things was a nice change. At least I don't recall it when I first got my D1. As I work on 2 computers, one in the house, one in the garage, I do need to find a way to export/keep the same saved settings for engraving/cutting/etc from one system to the next for naming. One thing I don't like is you can have 5 things named exactly the same and all with different settings. It doesn't overwrite the settings/name even when you save it as the same name again which can be annoying as you're testing/verifying settings.
I'm an xTool Partner for now, yes. No paycheck, but I can request machines to showcase and make content on. It's beneficial for us both I think and so long as it stays that way, I'll keep working with them. Of all the laser companies out there, they seem to have it together the best from A to Z.
Great video, i just want to know if this engraver does a nice, clear depth effect or if it looks like marking/etching, which are very lightly engraving that feels like someone did it with a sharp object.
Thank you for sharing the knowledge you have in such a generous way, it's inspiring! I'm waiting for the P2 combo +F1, exited and scared at the same time ;) THank you!!
BTW about the colors, did you notice any difference of the local ones your where buying VS the 10 boxes your orders and finally got most correct with feet?
Sam, I was making a power/speed test on slate one time with my 50 watt fiber laser. I got some power settings a little too hot. It bubbled the slate up something fierce. I didn't know slate would melt like that, but it does.
Sam I keep trying to do the power speed test but it gets so far and then the alarm goes off fire I don't even see any flames. how many lines are you using
Very good review. Thank you for doing this. I am looking for a budget friendly way to do small metal, non organic engraving jobs - such as back of a watch, on a metal badge, tag, etc. The idea of different colors on slate never occurred to me that could be done. This video is a few months old which means you have had it for awhile. 1) Would you still recommend for small jobs and how well can you frame an area to ensure you are engraving on a small object in the right area? Looks pretty straight forward from your video. 2) Have you traded back to lightburn for running this laser or is it worth learning the specific software you mentioned? 3) I see xtool has several different versions of lasers - is this the one that is best for small metal jobs - do yiou know?
Hey Sam, You are really doing good on here. I have a question I hope you or a user can answer. I know the answer is a test card (but I don't have enough product to do one). I am wanting to engrave on some Amethyst Polished Stones. I have the xt Diode 5w, 10w, and 20w and the xtool pro IR (and will be 10years until I can afford the 40w head or P2). I am not sure which head to even start with or what possible power/speed to even try. Hoping somebody has bought these on sale at a local hobby shop (that we aren't getting paid by) and has some clue what head to start with and what power/speed. I have 7 of the stones, so if I get ONE to work I can still break even. Also I got a flat pack of 5 White Howlite Blanche (looks like white slate, no clue what it is) with the same question. Hope somebody can guide me on track.
Plastic will only react in two ways: light engravings on dark material, dark engravings on light material. However, a UV laser is the best for plastic marking. Be very careful with plastics. Many are very bad for your health when engraving.
Newbie Stupid Question: I've ordered the Xtool F1,it's my first ever laser to learn the ropes with.If I download the test file for XTool Creative Space does the file automatically adjust the power and speed settings it's self to perform the test or is it just a template to manually enter the settings onto? 🤔
Thanks mate, I will watch this video. Why not sell the actual slates as a pack with all the test results on for quick reference?I would buy them,ask if people would be interested probably be an earner,I'll have a free fiber laser if you make a million 😂
Probably the ComMarker... just because the fiber laser is so much faster, more powerful, and has a larger working size. It's worth saying that the ComMarker is my first fiber laser, so I don't know if they're great or just okay. I have nothing to compare them to yet.
Terry, I started with a Genmitsu 5w and immediately went to the 10w XTool, shortly after I moved up to the 20w XTool and also purchased the IR for metal work. Recently I p7rchased the 60w Monport co2 . The short of it is, go as big as you can afford and the space you can supply for a laser machine. Hope this helps
It is based on the image you are engraving, a vector image gives you to options you see he has which gives you that speed pre mm and with a bitmap image it shows the dot duration and power range you are seeing.
Absolutely! Diodes are great for the colorization effect due to their lower power vs. CO2 lasers and being able to go slower to get the richer colors. :) IR lasers tend to just do shades of gray/white in my experiences.
I’ve tried importing an image into XCS in 3 different file formats, none give the option to trace the image or any other way to set it to a layer. And light burn won’t frame, and they won’t say if I need a galvo license. About ready to send this one back….
The 1064nm laser in this unit is small compared to standalone fiber lasers at only 2 watts. Most fiber lasers you will see out there are about 20 watts minimum. This 2 watt IR laser is the same as the competitors like Laser Pecker, Genmitsu, Atomstack, etc. Overall it's a good machine and great for multipurpose uses. But no, not as fast as a fiber laser.
It would be great to see this same Nacho run on a D1 40W (skipping the IR laser and just doing the 40W) to see how long it takes. Anyone have a coaster (and 40W D1) to test on?
The F1 does not do the layers in order at all. I’ve been trying coated aluminum for 2 weeks, no matter how you do it it will fire the IR laser first and then the blue, which is the opposite of what you would want. If I hadn’t thrown the box away I’d be sending this back.
It's the program's fault. XCS does not allow us control over layers and actions as we need. I'm hoping Lightburn will get going with compatibility soon for this machine.
It literally looks like cricut design space! That will be nice because I’m very versed in design space and in canva so I can create my own images and files 🫶
