Over the previous couple of years, xTool has garnered a fame as being one of many extra “premium” prosumer laser machine manufacturers and the F1 Extremely was one of the best fiber mannequin they needed to provide. Now, they’ve upped the ante with the brand new xTool F2 Extremely and I put it to the check.
The fundamentals
The xTool F2 Extremely is a galvanometer laser machine obtainable in two variations: single laser and twin laser. The previous has a 60W MOPA fiber laser, whereas the latter has that and a secondary 40W blue diode laser. I obtained the one laser model for testing.
By itself, the F2 Extremely has a most working space of 220×220mm (8.6×8.6 inches) and customers can increase that to 500×220mm (19.6×8.6 inches) with the conveyor accent. The utmost materials peak is 150mm. There may be additionally a rotary attachment obtainable, however I wasn’t given one for testing and so I gained’t be overlaying that.
It is a absolutely enclosed machine and as a galvo laser, it’s able to very quick speeds: as much as 15,000mm per second. It options autofocus, a wired management interface, and twin cameras for positioning designs. It will probably talk with the consumer’s PC (or Mac) through USB or WiFi. The F2 Extremely works with each XCS (xTool Inventive Area) software program and Atomm.
Why MOPA?
MOPA (Grasp Oscillator Energy Amplifier) is a expertise for modulating energy to the fiber laser with pulses of adjustable length and frequency. In comparison with a normal fiber laser, a MOPA fiber laser can function with a lot larger management over the vitality switch to the work materials. In follow, that tends to provide cleaner cuts with much less scorching, burning, and warping.
It’s doable to chop and engrave many sorts of materials with a MOPA fiber laser, however the expertise is greatest suited to metals. xTool says that the F2 Extremely can lower brass, stainless-steel, and aluminum, whereas it could actually engrave these and silver, platinum, titanium, gold, and plastics. In stainless-steel, it could actually create colourful palettes by way of oxidation.
Most individuals shopping for a MOPA laser, just like the F2 Extremely, are doing so to chop and engrave metallic.
Unboxing, setup, and first impressions
On this market, xTool has positioned itself as a premium model and that’s obvious as quickly as you open the transport field. All the things is packed properly they usually even made unpacking straightforward, with straps that can assist you get the machine onto a workbench.
After eradicating the protecting plastic wrap, I used to be impressed by the construct high quality of the F2 Extremely. Your entire machine merely appears to be like very good and the supplies are all top-notch. It’s clear that this isn’t only a white label generic machine — it’s xTool’s personal design they usually put actual effort into the engineering.
I additionally liked how straightforward it was to arrange. I didn’t have to show a single screw to get it prepared to be used. All I needed to do was plug within the cables (energy, USB, and controller) and I used to be able to go.
Software program setup
After testing and reviewing a plethora of laser machines, I’ve come to the conclusion that software program is extra essential than the rest in terms of precise day-to-day use in the true world. I’ve laser machines that I nearly by no means activate, just because I don’t need to take care of the software program. The xTool F2 Extremely requires using XCS (xTool Inventive Area), which can give pause to folks used to LightBurn.
I exploit LightBurn so much and whereas it’s actually practical, I don’t take pleasure in it. That’s very true for laser machines with extra complicated habits and options, which are inclined to require complicated setup or workflows that really feel hacky.
This was my first expertise with XCS and I preferred it. The software program mechanically acknowledged the F2 Extremely and led me by way of a fast interactive tutorial. Even with out that tutorial, it will have been straightforward to determine because the interface may be very intuitive. All the things works precisely how one would anticipate and there wasn’t any configuration vital.
Even setting the slicing/engraving parameters was straightforward. Simply choose the kind of work you’re doing (common flat, curved floor, batch, and so forth.) and select a cloth from the library, then you definately’re able to go.
There are additionally a lot of ready-to-go designs and templates you’ll be able to seize by way of Atomm, which is Xtool’s design market and sharing platform. A few of these are paid, however most appear to be free proper now. On prime of that, there are AI design instruments in case you’re into that kind of factor.
One minor draw back to XCS is that it requires a present working system. I preserve an inexpensive “storage laptop computer” only for working machines and it has Home windows 8, however that wasn’t supported by XCS and so I needed to seize my nicer laptop computer. Not a giant deal, however value noting.
Working jobs
The essential workflow begins with opening XCS and both grabbing an present design/template from Atomm or creating a brand new clean canvas. Be sure the F2 Extremely is chosen, select the mode (like “flat”), select the fabric (there are tons of within the library), after which create or import your design. From there, you’ll be able to set the parameters for the job, equivalent to velocity and energy — although they’ll be preset based mostly on the fabric and will not must be modified.
A single click on autofocuses the machine and snaps a photograph of the work space, so you’ll be able to place your design on the fabric. You’ll be able to then preview the work and, in case you’re joyful, course of it and ship it to the machine.
That is the place the machine’s wired controller is available in. It has a pleasant full-color touchscreen that provides you standing data. When beginning a job, all it’s important to do is press the massive inexperienced “xTool” button and the F2 Extremely will run the job.
I actually like that controller, as you’ll be able to place it wherever is handy. More often than not, the one vital interplay was pushing the button to begin. However it’s good that it gives data (like run time) and there are primary controls for different features.
Efficiency
60 watts is a wholesome determine for a MOPA fiber laser and is sufficient to get some actual work completed in metallic. Specialists are inclined to suggest at the very least 100W for slicing sheet metallic, however the F2 Extremely’s 60W is sufficient for thinner sheet metallic in case you’re affected person and cautious. So, let’s go over what you’ll be able to realistically anticipate.
On the subject of marking metallic or engraving coated metals (anodization, paint, or powder coating), the F2 Extremely does extraordinarily properly. It will probably engrave a complete anodized aluminum enterprise card in only a few seconds.
Precise engraving (you could really feel) in metallic takes a bit longer, however the F2 Extremely excels at that, too. You’ll be able to obtain actually deep engraving in any frequent metallic very simply and it’s nonetheless fairly fast.
However issues get just a little extra nuanced in terms of slicing. The F2 Extremely completely can lower by way of sheet metallic (aluminum, stainless, brass, and even gentle metal). However, relying on the thickness, it could actually take a while and typically a number of passes.
Skinny aluminum enterprise playing cards (0.2mm thick) lower shortly and simply. Slicing out this star solely took about 10 seconds.
However, in my testing, thicker materials was a lot, rather more troublesome. Within the F2 Extremely’s FAQ part, xTool says:
What’s the max engraving depth or slicing thickness for metals?The F2 Extremely can lower brass as much as 2mm, stainless-steel as much as 2mm, aluminum as much as 1mm. Engraving depth will depend on the fabric and settings, however the 60W MOPA fiber laser ensures deep and exact outcomes throughout a variety of metals.
I feel that’s, at greatest, optimistic. I wasn’t even in a position to lower by way of 1.5mm stainless-steel, utilizing excessive energy, gradual velocity, wobble, and lots of passes. Primarily based on posts I’ve seen from quite a few others in xTool consumer teams, I don’t assume my expertise is uncommon.
Nonetheless, the F2 Extremely is excellent at embossing, each in stone (like slate) and in metallic.
It’s highly effective sufficient that it’s straightforward to by chance go too deep!
With embossing (debossing is admittedly extra correct right here), the laser cuts away materials to depart a 3D reduction. It will probably even do this in very thick metallic, as with this brass coin.
That led me to…
The key to slicing thick metallic with the F2 Extremely
Why can the F2 Extremely emboss thick metallic, however not “lower” it?
I feel there are two main causes: warmth and slag. With the centered level of a “lower” operation, you’re placing a ton of warmth into the fabric. That leads to large warping, as with this keychain. You’re additionally leaving lots of slag, which fills within the lower, so that you’re simply recutting the identical materials again and again.
Embossing doesn’t have these issues, as a result of the world is large. That spreads the warmth and offers the burned off materials room to clear.
The “wobble” setting does one thing comparable when slicing, nevertheless it wasn’t adequate for me. So, why not merely emboss right through the fabric to create a lower?
That’s precisely what I did!
My “depth map” was only a stable black define for the lower I needed. At 70% energy and 200mm/s velocity, I used to be in a position to lower by way of thick metallic in 5-20 minutes — simply altering the variety of emboss layers to swimsuit the fabric.
You don’t get the cleanest edges, as you’re primarily doing raster scanning reasonably than vector paths. However it does lower by way of the metallic and doesn’t warp the fabric right into a pringle.
And it’s possible you’ll have to experiment with the parameters, which leads me to my second grievance concerning the xTool F2 Extremely…
The fabric library
One of many main promoting factors of the xTool F2 Extremely and XCS is that there’s a giant materials library, which comprises the slicing/engraving parameters you want to your supplies.
If you wish to engrave a stainless-steel canine tag, simply choose that from the library and XCS will fill within the optimum parameters.
The issue I discovered was that the library is incomplete and inconsistent. There are lots of, many supplies within the library that don’t have F2 Extremely parameters in any respect. And even the supplies that do will typically lack parameters for some operations, like slicing.
This was a difficulty with my experiments slicing metallic. The supplies had been within the library, however they merely didn’t embrace slicing parameters — solely engraving.
The answer is trial-and-error to search out the perfect parameters your self, such as you would with some other laser machine. However it’s nonetheless irritating to have such an important characteristic (the fabric library) be diminished by incomplete data.
Transferring on to extra particular options:
The conveyor
I really like the Auto Streamline Conveyor and I feel it’s a good instance of what xTool does properly. It is sort of a treadmill for the F2 Extremely that serves two functions: extending the X axis for lengthy components and batch engraving.
Earlier than I get to these options, I need to level out that the conveyor unit itself is well-constructed and simple to arrange. It solely requires six screws to assemble, and also you solely have to take away two of these while you need to take off the conveyor. Connection is finished with a single cable and the software program mechanically acknowledges it, so no configuration is critical.
That places it leagues forward of the standard “slide extension” equipment I see for many laser machines, that are such a ache that they often aren’t well worth the effort.
Functionally, it really works nice as an extension. With it in place, you increase the working space to 500mm within the X axis, so you’ll be able to engrave lengthy issues. That labored completely for me and my solely grievance is that alignment is primarily visible.
However I feel it’s much more attention-grabbing for batch engraving. In that mode, you arrange a design on one half. Then you’ll be able to merely drop similar components on the conveyor. As they cross beneath the laser, the F2 Extremely acknowledges their form and orientation, then duplicates the design on them. This allows you to in a short time engrave dozens and even tons of of similar objects. You can even do one thing comparable with putting totally different designs on similar components.
That labored properly for me, with two caveats: 1. the location wasn’t all the time good. Generally the engravings could be shifted by a few millimeters. 2. It might miss some components, prefer it didn’t acknowledge them. In these circumstances, I might put the components again on the conveyor and it will acknowledge them the second time round.
The primary problem could or could not matter to you, relying on what you’re making. The second problem isn’t an issue in case you’re checking the components as they arrive off the conveyor, however could possibly be an issue in order for you a completely automated expertise.
Air flow and filtration
There may be an air air purifier obtainable from xTool, however they didn’t ship it to me and so I wasn’t in a position to check it. I do have a number of different air purifiers readily available, however selected to not use one in any respect as a way to expertise what a purchaser may in the event that they select to not shell out a further $1,000 for the SafetyPro AP2 Air Air purifier.
Until you’re working with wooden, the F2 Extremely most likely isn’t going to be spewing smoke. However will probably be spitting out fumes and particulates, which could be harmful (test the fabric you’re working with).
After doing an emboss in slate, I discovered that half of my storage was lined in a layer of skinny powder. And fumes from stainless-steel (and different metals) are fairly harmful.
My advice could be to vent open air or to make use of an air air purifier — ideally each. That stated, I’m unsure if the SafetyPro AP2 is well worth the value. You could find comparable models from many different producers at half the fee. However once more, I didn’t check it and so can’t communicate with authority.
3D curved surfaces
This is among the greatest options of the xTool F2 Extremely and is one you don’t see on many different machines. It’s able to measuring the gap to a number of factors on the floor of curved materials to generate a 3D map, then can modify focus whereas engraving to observe that floor.
That may be very helpful, as a result of not every part is flat. For instance, I’ve been desirous to engrave golf membership heads and that is good for that. On this instance, you’ll be able to see that there’s fairly excessive variation within the floor, however the F2 Extremely was in a position to modify focus to engrave throughout it with none issues.
When utilizing this characteristic, you’ll be able to modify the scanned measurement and the variety of factors it measures to generate the 3D mesh. It really works with textual content, vector paths, and pictures.
That is the type of characteristic that each laser machine ought to have, however few do. I’m actually joyful to see it on the F2 Extremely.
Closing ideas and suggestions
General, I feel the xTool F2 Extremely is a really, superb machine — I’ll actually be preserving mine. It’s well-built and intelligently designed, with each the {hardware} and software program working collectively to supply a extremely nice expertise.
That extends to the conveyor, which I like so much and assume was executed very properly. As a result of I didn’t obtain them, I can’t communicate to the rotary extension or the air air purifier.
Nonetheless, I do assume potential patrons have to go in with the precise expectations and I’m unsure that xTool’s advertising units these accurately. Specifically, slicing thick metallic (something greater than 0.5mm or so) may be very troublesome. There are workarounds, as I described above, however I wouldn’t suggest shopping for the F2 Extremely in case your main use case is slicing metallic.
However for marking, deep engraving, and embossing, the F2 Extremely is implausible. It’s highly effective, quick, and intuitive.
Sure, that is an costly machine in comparison with a lot of the competitors. However that value reveals within the construct high quality, options, and expertise. “Purchase as soon as, cry as soon as” as they are saying. I’ve used sufficient price range fashions to actually respect the xTool F2 Extremely and completely suggest it.
