I've Burned Through $2,800 in Bad Laser Settings — Here's What Actually Works on the xTool F1 Ultra

If you're only planning to engrave wine glasses with the xTool F1 Ultra, don't buy it yet. I'm not saying it can't do it—it actually does a pretty decent job with the included rotary attachment. But there are cheaper, simpler machines for glass etching. The F1 Ultra's real value, the thing that justifies its price tag, is that it can do both metal and non-metal with a single machine. That's the killer feature. It's a fiber laser AND a diode laser in one box. That's what makes it different from the LaserPecker LP5 or a cheaper K40 CO2. And I learned this the hard way—by buying a dedicated fiber laser first, then realizing I also needed a diode for wood and acrylic. That was a $2,800 mistake.

I run a small shop doing custom laser engraving for local businesses, Etsy orders, and the occasional odd request from a maker space. I've been doing this for about three years. I've made most of the common mistakes you can make with a dual-laser machine. I've wasted material, ruined orders, and had to apologize to clients. So I'm writing this to save you the headache. Here's what I've figured out about the xTool F1 Ultra, specifically the 20W version, after about 18 months of daily use.

My Setup and Why I Chose It

For context, my current setup is the xTool F1 Ultra (20W) with the optional rotary attachment and the air assist kit. I bought it after my initial, expensive mistake of buying a separate fiber laser. I needed something that could handle stainless steel tumblers one day and acrylic keychains the next, without swapping machines. The F1 Ultra does that. It's a desktop unit, which is a huge plus for my small space—it's about the size of a large printer, and the rotary attachment sits flush with the base, so you don't lose a lot of footprint.

The Single Most Important Setting You'll Change: Material Type

The F1 Ultra has two laser sources: a 20W fiber laser (for metal, plastic, and some dark materials) and a 20W diode laser (for wood, acrylic, leather, and glass). The machine has an automatic switching feature, but it's not as automatic as they make it sound. Or rather, it will switch for you, but it might not pick the right settings. I've had it default to the fiber laser for a project that clearly needed the diode, resulting in a faint, useless engraving on a piece of walnut. The machine doesn't know your material unless you tell it.

So my first rule: Always manually select the correct laser source in the software before you start. I use XCS (the xTool Creative Space software). If I'm cutting 3mm plywood, I select 'Diode, 20W' and then choose from the material presets. The presets are a decent starting point, but they are not optimized for every brand or batch of material. I'll get into that in the next section.

xTool F1 Ultra Acrylic Cutting Settings: The $200 Lesson

Acrylic is where this machine shines, but it's also where I've burned through the most money. My biggest single mistake was trying to cut 5mm clear acrylic in one pass. The default preset in XCS suggested a speed of 10mm/s and 100% power. That seemed plausible. I started the cut. The first pass made a nice groove. The second pass started to get cloudy. By the third pass, the acrylic was melting, fusing back together, and the laser head was dragging through a sticky mess. I ended up with a ruined piece of cast acrylic and a head that needed cleaning. That piece cost me about $40. The clean-up took an hour.

Here's what I've settled on for acrylic, and it's worked reliably for the last 8 months:

• Cast acrylic (3mm, clear): Use the Diode laser. 2 passes. Power: 95%. Speed: 15mm/s. This gives a clean, flame-polished edge. One pass at slower speed creates more heat and melting.
• Cast acrylic (5mm, clear): Diode laser. Do not try one pass. Use 3-4 passes. Power: 100%. Speed: 20mm/s. Make sure air assist is on. The edge will be slightly frosted, which is fine for most applications but not for a display case.
• Colored acrylic (most colors): Same settings as cast clear, but test a small area first. I once had a dark blue piece absorb more heat and warp. Your mileage may vary.
• Extruded acrylic: This is cheaper and cuts faster, but the edge will be less flame-polished. I use 1-2 passes at 100% power, 25mm/s for 3mm. It works, but it's less pretty.

The key insight: multiple fast passes are better than one slow pass. The heat builds up and causes melting. Let the material cool between passes. I usually wait 10-15 seconds.

Other Materials and Settings I Use Regularly

Here's a quick reference for common materials I use. These are for the diode laser unless otherwise noted.

• 3mm Plywood (Basswood): 1 pass at 100% power, 20mm/s. Clean cut, minimal charring.
• 6mm Plywood: 2 passes at 100% power, 15mm/s. You'll get some charring, which I usually sand off.
• Stainless Steel Tumbler (dark coating): Use the Fiber laser. Power: 80%. Speed: 300mm/s. Frequency: 100kHz. This removes the coating and leaves a clean mark. It takes about 2 minutes for a standard tumbler.
• Leather (vegetable tan): Diode laser. 1 pass at 60% power, 200mm/s for engraving. For cutting, 2 passes at 100% power, 25mm/s. Watch for smoke; it smells terrible.
• Dark Glass (like a beer mug): Use the Fiber laser (yes, for glass, the fiber laser works better for opaque colors). Or use the diode laser with a coat of black paint as a mask. I've had more success with the fiber laser for dark glass.

Things to Do With Your Laser Engraver: Project Ideas That Actually Work

After doing this for a while, you run out of 'make a keychain' ideas. Here are some projects I've done that sold well or surprised me.

• Engraved Edge Grain Cutting Boards: Use the fiber laser to mark lines for juice grooves. It's incredibly precise. My biggest seller last holiday season. A simple, clean line in a walnut board. I sold about 60 of them.
• Acrylic Trophies and Awards: The F1 Ultra cuts clear acrylic beautifully for layered trophies. Stack two or three colors for a 3D effect. A local swim club ordered 20 of these for an end-of-year banquet. They paid $25 each.
• Leather Wallets with a Personal Touch: Engrave a monogram or a simple pattern on the inside of a leather wallet. It adds a premium feel. The fiber laser can mark dark leather very cleanly.
• Stencil Making (for glass etching or painting): If you want to etch a design on a wine glass without a laser, use the F1 Ultra to cut a stencil from adhesive vinyl or Mylar. The precision is amazing. Then use etching cream. This is how I got around the 'wine glass' limitation.
• Custom Circuit Board (PCB) Prototyping: This is an advanced one, but you can use the laser to remove the solder mask from a copper-clad board. I've made a few simple Arduino shields this way. It takes practice.

Rotary Attachment: The Good and the Bad

The rotary attachment is a must-have for this machine if you plan to do tumblers or wine glasses. It works with both laser sources. The setup is a little finicky—you have to manually align the center of the cylinder with the laser beam. Their tutorial videos are helpful, but they skip over the tensor calibration step. If the object isn't perfectly centered, your engraving will be wonky. I ruined a half-dozen stainless steel tumblers before I figured this out. My advice: spend 15 minutes calibrating it perfectly with a piece of scrap wood taped to the roller. Once it's set, leave the attachment in place and don't move it.

The one downside: it doesn't handle very small diameters well, like a pen. You need a separate chuck for that, which they sell, but it's another purchase.

Air Assist is Not Optional

This is the most common mistake I see in reviews: people skipping the air assist kit to save $80. Don't. The air assist clears debris, reduces charring, and prevents the lens from getting dirty. A dirty lens reduces power by a significant amount. I've seen users report a 30% drop in cutting power after a few hours of use without air assist. Plus, the air flow helps cool the cut, which is critical for acrylic. Just buy it.

The One Thing I'd Change

Honestly, the software (XCS) is decent. It's not LightBurn, but it's free and it works. The one thing I wish was different: a more reliable automatic material detection. The machine has a camera that can detect the edge of a material, but it can't tell if that material is wood vs. acrylic. You have to tell it. In a production run, that's fine. But for a quick test cut, it would be amazing if the machine could just 'see' the material and suggest a starting point.

But for a $1,500 (approx) machine that combines two laser sources, it's a fantastic piece of kit for a small business or a serious maker. It's not for everyone. If you only need CO2-level speed for large sheets of acrylic, get a K40. But if you need a versatile, compact engraver that handles metal and non-metal without a second machine, the F1 Ultra is probably your best bet.