I bought a wecreat vision in febuary and within 3 weeks started having issues. There was a firmware update that completely over night ruined the auto focus feature. Customer service was albiet helpful, was a nightmare to work with because it was no phone number. one email response every 24 hrs and usually between 2-6am as they are china based. After 11 days of no fix and no solution i requestwd a refund. Finally in May, i have been reimbursed and am making the purchase for the Xtools S1 via your link and recommendation. Thank you for your genuine authenticity with your review
I’m sorry you had such a bad experience! Xtools customer service is very good but as I said in the video, also join some of the Facebook groups, whenever I run into little design things that’s exactly where I personally go to ask people what to do you always get a ton of people immediately respond to you so it’s a good resource! you can also do a search in those groups because most likely your questions been asked by somebody else. Interested to know your thoughts on it after you’ve had it a little bit.
lol well yea I have 5 because of UA-cam. XTool p2 is currently my fav. It’s a co2, it’s big, has dual cameras (precise,) cuts and engraves acrylic glass etc, the conveyor is wide so I can work of big pieces, - negatives $$$, it’s big and very very heavy but the softwares great, camera system works great, it’s as big as your going to get in a desktop unit before your looking at a huge stand alone machine, (part of me wants that but then space constraints tell me no) it’s fast as well. I find myself 3d printing and laser engraving something almost every day now just because of how easy those machines are.
No. Not a module you "just click in". The WeCreate is a pain (annoyance) to swap out the IR module. The Xtool is extremely plug and play in comparison.
There's a video out there that shows how to switch it out. It's kind of funny because it seems like they're going to stop at any minute but they keep going. Do this and then do that and then do this and do that and then a little flick of this and little flick of that. It's just crazy.
I do have a camera on my xTool P2 and it works excellent, prefer that one over my S1 just because it’s quicker for set up, but it is a much more expensive. But if you’re gonna do a camera, it has to be implemented 100%.
Thanks, I can say the camera on my P2 is absolutely fantastic, it has a fish eye, which is as inaccurate as this one, but then it has a second high camera that’s directly on the laser head and it will move it over to a section and do a very close-up high deaf shot so you can make sure that you reposition correctly. That’s probably the Laser that I use the most lately
I think a camera can be very accurate and repeatable. It seems that there needs to be some tuning between the hardware and software in this case. The problem with the manual marking is that a person is doing it. It can vary slightly every time you do it based on where you are standing. Think about where your eyes are in relation to the laser indicator.. They’ll never be in the same place. But likely it’s good enough, but probably not highly accurate if you run 100 samples measure and compare the results.
I have watched many reviews lately so I might be confused but doesn't the S1 have the auto focus camera? Like maybe they added it after this review was done?
No s1 doesn’t have a camera in it, it used the laser cross and probe. You “can”take a pic on your phone using their software and positioning dots but the cross and probe are the accurate ones
@@BitnerBuilt I went back and watched the other review again and I was confusing focus with mapping your work piece or finding x / y or whatever. Anyway, I will be buying the S1 in the near future. I owned an Xcarve CNC router machine back in 2018. Highly recommend the company.
@@Book-GnomeI am actually doing a live stream next week where we are giving away an s1, might want to tune in! facebook.com/share/HePAasYMZ4kRrWSy/?mibextid=9l3rBW
Not sure where you’re getting 7k? Well, this video is on diode which the S1 is 850 to 2000’s not $7,000. The p2 is $4200. the bigger CO2 machines definitely have their place in a production facility. But at a gigantic size and almost double the price of the P2, For people who aren’t doing production it’s a bit much. Laser is only a part of what I do. I personally wouldn’t have anywhere to put one in my shop and I’ve been offered them for free and turned it down (different company than thunder) honestly, the P2 with its auto conveyor has been able to tackle any project that I’ve been able to throw at it including engraving tons of 4 foot long 19in wide panels for a parade float I made. And it being a bench top size means I can actually move it around and find a place to keep it. Again the big lasers are great your just looking at a professional user with a space for laser product production, xTool is a hobbyist / small business machine
2nd comment So price point. You cant beat the price on a Wecreat. Accessories and all. Thought being said ease of swaping out some of those accessories. I'd take the S1 over the Wecreat for that. The xtra safety stuff on the Xtool. YES. Id like to get into the Xtool market some day but Ill happily make stuff to sell and donate on my Wecreat.
Absolutely, there’s always a give-and-take with each decision. You definitely can’t discount that camera issue though that one really gets to me that they’re putting out additional machines and accessories without dealing with that problem. I’m reviewing the new F1 ultra and the camera on that one is 100% spot on so it definitely can be done.
Let me fix one of your gripes... when u mention that it autofocuses every time for like batch engravings. If you know the width of your material why dont you simply turn off the autofocus? It allows you to input your thickness and that way it knows already and wont ask u to autofocus. Idk just a thought.
Diodes are not that noisy mainly it’s the motor noise moving the head around, I would say that it is quieter than all power tools I own including a hand drill. I can stand next to it while running and have a conversation without raising my voice.
Actually WeCreat should have a “Repeat Last Job” button which would skip the Auto Focus and literally rerun the prior job. That would really help speed up batching with a jig.
Good thought. It’s just disappointing to have to not use convenient items. On the f1 ultra I am testing right now, camera based, accurate and stays at the focus height I set until I auto set it again so I can just keep swapping out materials.
Not sure if you’re still reading comments here. Would you please do a comparison between the xTool P2 and S1? What’s the benefits of each? Time to cut same material between the machines. Many thanks!
Still reading 👍 so I own both. The easiest assessment is the s1 is a fantastic option if you don’t need to do clear glass or acrylic. It’s much more affordable, can process many materials and the positioning system, while not a camera it is easy to use and extremely precise. Since I own both, I go for the p2 as the camera is more convenient, the p2 is a little faster. There is a big overlap between those two machines as compared to the f1 ultra for example. My recommendation is if you “need” the p2 for the acrylic/ glass get the p2, otherwise grab the s1 as it’s at such a much more attractive price.
@@BitnerBuilt Thank you for taking time to reply. I'm just starting to learn about Laser. I started CNC about a year ago... and I love watching woodworking. Consider me a new fan! Thanks for your contents and your honesty on your reviews!
I'm newly in the market for a machine; I'm setting up a shop and (a) always wanted one, and (b) need to organize storage and the laser cut boxes for nuts and bolts. (It's amazing how (b) tends to justify (a)!) If you need an idea for another video, could you please consider something on handling of fumes? I'm in the position of not being able to vent outside for a while. FYI, the Share Sale link does not appear to be active yet.
Thanks! Will take a look at the link. On the fumes I did a video on enclosures I will link below where I also talk about inline fans. When working with these machines you “can” use air purifiers but they will need a filter change very very regularly. $$$… if you’re going to be using it at all regularly, you really want to be able to hook up to a window to vent, literally cut a hole through the wall like I did and put a laundry dryer vent on the other side, so it looks normal on the exterior of your house or even literally use it outside if none of those options are available.
Is there really a big difference between 40W and 20W when it comes to engraving? From the website, it seems that 40W should only be used when cutting thick material.Would you Review Acmer P3, it's dual lasers seem to engrave better.
So 20w is better for engraving as it has a smaller point when engraving (more water out of the hose the bigger the water stream etc) when compared to a 40w. The 40w can cut deeper however and because it can remove more material in one pass it’s faster, for example you might get the same engrave from 50% power, 400 speed on the 20watt you get from 25% power 600 speed on the 40w, so lower power and faster speed.
@@BitnerBuilti can't find anything online that actually compares the 20w to the 40w on wecreat. Would lowering the power on the 40w make a similar quality engrave with the 20w
@@loags22 yes when you run a more powerful laser it enables you to primarily to run it at a high power but then speed it up because you don’t want to burn your project so your able to get the same result faster. Then of course your able to cut deeper material or engrave deeper faster with less passes
It was tried many many times I then went to the company with it and they admitted it’s an issue they know about - can’t be fixed with calibration they are using a fish eye lens so it warps the photo at the edges making it inaccurate there
@@BitnerBuilt Good to know. Mine should be here Friday. They say the max variation from the cam is 2mm which sounds tiny till you see it. That is about the thickness of a toothpick. I can see it being an issue when engraving smaller items. fingers crossed it works out or I'll be sending it back for an S1.
This was a great review and focused on some seriously important aspects; ie the matchstick test. The cam on the WeCreat gave a false sense of security. I did end up going with the S1, and their camera feature is off a good 1/16" for me in one axis and 1/64" in the other. Either way, I need to run a test like you did so I can at least figure out how to compensate. Thanks and well done!
Thanks Matt! Contact their technical support and they should be able to help you dial it in there are several calibrators as well as some hidden ones the tech have access to (I know the ultra has hidden ones)
@@BitnerBuilt Will do! Thank you for the suggestion. BTW Have you messed with the Snapshot Preview on the S1? I noticed that after taking a picture of the stickers during calibration, it trims 1.50" off the front image, yet there is an 1" at the back of the machine you can't use. You can access that 1.50" at the front during calibration, but you can't see it even if it was in view. Ultimately, this falls into line with your calibration suggestion as well. Just curious if you had experienced it at all. I couldn't find anything when I went down that rabbit hole.
@@mattspawn1975 I actually haven’t played with that, I own a bunch (too many 😂) lasers so I usually gravitate towards my expensive ones lately, very accurate cameras more powerful etc so I haven’t gotten around to playing with that yet. I was just sent the new m1 ultra and that has the same photo snapshot function so I’m sure I will be playing with it in the next week or two
It’s touched on by some - I don’t watch others reviews to keep mine un -influenced but when I find a big negative I watch others to see if it’s just me. And a lot gently touch on it..but one guys video I watched he said just use the middle…..
@@edwardliu1154 I hadn’t ever heard of that one before so I just took a look at it, the big thing that immediately jets out to me is that it has a camera that can be used with Lightburn because it doesn’t have its own software. If you’ve never tried to add a camera to Lightburn before it is crazy, I spent over $1000 building out an enclosure for an open open gantry laser thathad, and I went through buying five different cameras and trying to add them into Lightburn so that I could get that camera functionality and in all honesty they were all horrible and I never got it to work right. The best I was able to achieve was using the camera to watch my to make sure that it was coming out. OK, but definitely not for precise layout. Camera is really Something has to be implemented in its own native software, in this situation, they’re giving you technically the functionality but they’re passing off the responsibility to you to get a calibrated and installed correctly in the software. That’s not to say that it can’t be done. I’ve seen some guys that have been able to build enclosures with aftermarket cameras and use it in Lightbourn, but I’m pretty good with LB stuff and I just couldn’t get it to work
Hmm I’ll take a look at it and see, I get emails from most of them asking to review, I try to pick and choose ones I’m interested in since I only do 4-5 videos a month on a bunch of different topics.
@@noelv1976 I super glued the 15 matchsticks to a board (I just laid them the first time and the air assist blew them away 😂) and then just mapped them using the s1 laser cross hairs as I normally would. The only really really good camera I have found so far is the xTool f1 ultra and that’s in a smaller space with a ton of riser height.
@@BitnerBuilt I saw the glue part lol, didn't know you had to manually map out each matchstick lol... guess it makes sense since it doesn't have a camera
@@noelv1976yea but it didn’t take long maybe 2-3 seconds per match stick. Batch processing where you have to map can be time consuming that’s where a camera is more prefered
Yes the camera is not 100% accurate at the moment, hopefully they can fix the camera accuracy issue. The best way to get very accurate laser engravings is the following. Use the rectangle, square or circles shapes in Wecreat software and input your exact dimensions, and line it up with your material you are engraving, from what it shows on camera. After you line up material shapes and they match the exact dimensions, you need to put the logo or design of what you are going to engrave in that drawn shaped box and use the align tool, which shows if it's centred. After you have centred, you can auto focus and click start, and click on the frame button, which will draw outline of the box that you added in the software. If the framing and laser is accurate around your material, everything should be good, as your content or image that you are engraving is centered within that box. If you see the laser red dot is off, when it goes around the perimeter of the material, you can adjust the material, or adjust the shaped box in the software and move accordingly, and re frame, to see everything is aligned. If you want to do accurate batch processing, just follow the same process above, and build a jig, to place all your material or product's in and once you have done framing on top of the jig you made and is accurate with framing, save the project file and you are good. The framing button makes a significant difference, in being able to get accurate engravings. With regards to auto focus, you can turn that off in settings, but I do agree, there should be an option to turn it off on the main screen, instead of having to go to settings, where it says "keep same height" Wecreat does a great job with feedback and suggestions. If you email them this issue or any issues and suggestions, on how to improve it, they most likely will look to resolve any issues people are emailing them about, in future software updates. Wecreat fixed a few software issues, I emailed them about, when I first bought the laser engraver. The software has improved a lot in the new updated version, as long people keep providing new suggestions through email, the software will continue to get better.
Thanks for the very detailed response. I get that there are ways to accommodate and to use jigs but it would be nice to not have to do that in the first place. The appeal with the camera is to be able to do quick AI batch processing without the use of a jig. I am able to do that with my xtool P2 for example. If your regulated to having to use jigs, then the positioning system is no better than utilizing an open gantry machine. Once you have that jig set up and the file set up, you can run it all the time. I have direct contacts at the company, I am very happy with the machine overall especially as it’s their first dab into the engraver space, they acknowledge the problem and we’ve talked about some things about it, so I do look forward to seeing what they come out with to eliminate the issue and then they’ll have a really solid machine.
I agree 100% with you! I bought the machine, knowing it's a new company and it will have it's quirks, because it's a new software and machine. The first software did not have a "framing option", and the alignment tool was not working properly. Both these issues are fixed now, which is good. Atleast with the framing button in the new software, you can see if your engravings, will be accurate or not, it's usable. The machine has potential long term to do well, as long, as they keep getting feed back and suggestions from people who are using the machine, and they continuously fix these issues and implement new suggestions.
I bought a wecreat vision in febuary and within 3 weeks started having issues. There was a firmware update that completely over night ruined the auto focus feature. Customer service was albiet helpful, was a nightmare to work with because it was no phone number. one email response every 24 hrs and usually between 2-6am as they are china based. After 11 days of no fix and no solution i requestwd a refund. Finally in May, i have been reimbursed and am making the purchase for the Xtools S1 via your link and recommendation. Thank you for your genuine authenticity with your review
I’m sorry you had such a bad experience! Xtools customer service is very good but as I said in the video, also join some of the Facebook groups, whenever I run into little design things that’s exactly where I personally go to ask people what to do you always get a ton of people immediately respond to you so it’s a good resource! you can also do a search in those groups because most likely your questions been asked by somebody else. Interested to know your thoughts on it after you’ve had it a little bit.
Of all the laser models you have, which do you use the most and why? I’m looking for a good all around option, don’t want to own 5, just one.
lol well yea I have 5 because of UA-cam. XTool p2 is currently my fav. It’s a co2, it’s big, has dual cameras (precise,) cuts and engraves acrylic glass etc, the conveyor is wide so I can work of big pieces, - negatives $$$, it’s big and very very heavy but the softwares great, camera system works great, it’s as big as your going to get in a desktop unit before your looking at a huge stand alone machine, (part of me wants that but then space constraints tell me no) it’s fast as well. I find myself 3d printing and laser engraving something almost every day now just because of how easy those machines are.
great video, we just purchased a 40w. good to know the issues we'll face. Thanks!
Hope you enjoy it! Lasers are a ton of fun!
Very helpful, thanks so much.
Glad it was helpful!
No. Not a module you "just click in". The WeCreate is a pain (annoyance) to swap out the IR module. The Xtool is extremely plug and play in comparison.
Oh good to know, I haven’t gotten my hands on it so wasn’t sure
There's a video out there that shows how to switch it out. It's kind of funny because it seems like they're going to stop at any minute but they keep going. Do this and then do that and then do this and do that and then a little flick of this and little flick of that. It's just crazy.
Really appreciate your honest, preciseness and upmost candored analysis... wish other bloggers followed your style 😊
Great job & thx! 👍👊
Thanks appreciate that! Always honest but when I have some negatives I definitely double down to make sure before I put that out there
It’s a no brained xtool is way better machine. And camera is a silly thing. Did you ever seen CNC machines using cameras? I don’t think so.
I do have a camera on my xTool P2 and it works excellent, prefer that one over my S1 just because it’s quicker for set up, but it is a much more expensive. But if you’re gonna do a camera, it has to be implemented 100%.
Interesting review. A camera is never going to be as accurate as multi position marking. Thanks for the review. Pretty much settles it for me.
Thanks, I can say the camera on my P2 is absolutely fantastic, it has a fish eye, which is as inaccurate as this one, but then it has a second high camera that’s directly on the laser head and it will move it over to a section and do a very close-up high deaf shot so you can make sure that you reposition correctly. That’s probably the Laser that I use the most lately
@@BitnerBuilt Two cameras are better than one.
I think a camera can be very accurate and repeatable. It seems that there needs to be some tuning between the hardware and software in this case. The problem with the manual marking is that a person is doing it. It can vary slightly every time you do it based on where you are standing. Think about where your eyes are in relation to the laser indicator.. They’ll never be in the same place. But likely it’s good enough, but probably not highly accurate if you run 100 samples measure and compare the results.
I have watched many reviews lately so I might be confused but doesn't the S1 have the auto focus camera? Like maybe they added it after this review was done?
No s1 doesn’t have a camera in it, it used the laser cross and probe. You “can”take a pic on your phone using their software and positioning dots but the cross and probe are the accurate ones
@@BitnerBuilt I went back and watched the other review again and I was confusing focus with mapping your work piece or finding x / y or whatever. Anyway, I will be buying the S1 in the near future. I owned an Xcarve CNC router machine back in 2018. Highly recommend the company.
@@Book-GnomeI am actually doing a live stream next week where we are giving away an s1, might want to tune in! facebook.com/share/HePAasYMZ4kRrWSy/?mibextid=9l3rBW
Just realized they are 2 different companies. I was confused
Very nice comparison and seemingly fair
Thanks!
Why pay $7k for a little benchtop xTool when you can get a Thunder Laser 24 60watt for $7400 or 35 100watt for $10k?
Not sure where you’re getting 7k? Well, this video is on diode which the S1 is 850 to 2000’s not $7,000. The p2 is $4200. the bigger CO2 machines definitely have their place in a production facility. But at a gigantic size and almost double the price of the P2, For people who aren’t doing production it’s a bit much. Laser is only a part of what I do. I personally wouldn’t have anywhere to put one in my shop and I’ve been offered them for free and turned it down (different company than thunder) honestly, the P2 with its auto conveyor has been able to tackle any project that I’ve been able to throw at it including engraving tons of 4 foot long 19in wide panels for a parade float I made. And it being a bench top size means I can actually move it around and find a place to keep it. Again the big lasers are great your just looking at a professional user with a space for laser product production, xTool is a hobbyist
/ small business machine
2nd comment
So price point. You cant beat the price on a Wecreat. Accessories and all. Thought being said ease of swaping out some of those accessories. I'd take the S1 over the Wecreat for that. The xtra safety stuff on the Xtool. YES.
Id like to get into the Xtool market some day but Ill happily make stuff to sell and donate on my Wecreat.
Absolutely, there’s always a give-and-take with each decision. You definitely can’t discount that camera issue though that one really gets to me that they’re putting out additional machines and accessories without dealing with that problem. I’m reviewing the new F1 ultra and the camera on that one is 100% spot on so it definitely can be done.
Let me fix one of your gripes... when u mention that it autofocuses every time for like batch engravings. If you know the width of your material why dont you simply turn off the autofocus? It allows you to input your thickness and that way it knows already and wont ask u to autofocus. Idk just a thought.
👍 I will give it a try
very nice information, thank you so much, I just have one question, what is the noise level when working with them? seems they are powerful noisy
Diodes are not that noisy mainly it’s the motor noise moving the head around, I would say that it is quieter than all power tools I own including a hand drill. I can stand next to it while running and have a conversation without raising my voice.
Actually WeCreat should have a “Repeat Last Job” button which would skip the Auto Focus and literally rerun the prior job. That would really help speed up batching with a jig.
👍
Thank you, so much for your HONEST review.
You are so welcome!
You don't have to autofocus at all, you can turn auto focus off and plug in the hight of material.
Good thought. It’s just disappointing to have to not use convenient items. On the f1 ultra I am testing right now, camera based, accurate and stays at the focus height I set until I auto set it again so I can just keep swapping out materials.
Not sure if you’re still reading comments here. Would you please do a comparison between the xTool P2 and S1? What’s the benefits of each? Time to cut same material between the machines. Many thanks!
Still reading 👍 so I own both. The easiest assessment is the s1 is a fantastic option if you don’t need to do clear glass or acrylic. It’s much more affordable, can process many materials and the positioning system, while not a camera it is easy to use and extremely precise. Since I own both, I go for the p2 as the camera is more convenient, the p2 is a little faster. There is a big overlap between those two machines as compared to the f1 ultra for example. My recommendation is if you “need” the p2 for the acrylic/ glass get the p2, otherwise grab the s1 as it’s at such a much more attractive price.
@@BitnerBuilt Thank you for taking time to reply. I'm just starting to learn about Laser. I started CNC about a year ago... and I love watching woodworking. Consider me a new fan! Thanks for your contents and your honesty on your reviews!
I'm newly in the market for a machine; I'm setting up a shop and (a) always wanted one, and (b) need to organize storage and the laser cut boxes for nuts and bolts. (It's amazing how (b) tends to justify (a)!)
If you need an idea for another video, could you please consider something on handling of fumes? I'm in the position of not being able to vent outside for a while.
FYI, the Share Sale link does not appear to be active yet.
Thanks! Will take a look at the link. On the fumes I did a video on enclosures I will link below where I also talk about inline fans. When working with these machines you “can” use air purifiers but they will need a filter change very very regularly. $$$… if you’re going to be using it at all regularly, you really want to be able to hook up to a window to vent, literally cut a hole through the wall like I did and put a laundry dryer vent on the other side, so it looks normal on the exterior of your house or even literally use it outside if none of those options are available.
Why Make A Tool Enclosure & What Makes A Good One? Adding in Hon & Guan Inline Fans
ua-cam.com/video/VR6DFcm02zA/v-deo.html
Any chance you could make your spreadsheet of the comparison available?
Shoot me an email justin@bitnerbuilt.com
Hi Justin, do you want to work with Vevor again, this is Haidee:)
Hi Haidee I’m sure at some point, depends on our video topics!
The vision seems to be off, likely due to the camera positioning.
It's more or less guessing where it is from The angle.
Yeah, they really do need to fix the camera
@@BitnerBuilt without a doubt.
As easy of a fix as it is, its unacceptable to allow the issue to persist
Is there really a big difference between 40W and 20W when it comes to engraving? From the website, it seems that 40W should only be used when cutting thick material.Would you Review Acmer P3, it's dual lasers seem to engrave better.
So 20w is better for engraving as it has a smaller point when engraving (more water out of the hose the bigger the water stream etc) when compared to a 40w. The 40w can cut deeper however and because it can remove more material in one pass it’s faster, for example you might get the same engrave from 50% power, 400 speed on the 20watt you get from 25% power 600 speed on the 40w, so lower power and faster speed.
@@BitnerBuilti can't find anything online that actually compares the 20w to the 40w on wecreat. Would lowering the power on the 40w make a similar quality engrave with the 20w
@@loags22 yes when you run a more powerful laser it enables you to primarily to run it at a high power but then speed it up because you don’t want to burn your project so your able to get the same result faster. Then of course your able to cut deeper material or engrave deeper faster with less passes
Seen this on a few videos and everyone fixed it running the calibration. Was that tried?
It was tried many many times I then went to the company with it and they admitted it’s an issue they know about - can’t be fixed with calibration they are using a fish eye lens so it warps the photo at the edges making it inaccurate there
@@BitnerBuilt Good to know. Mine should be here Friday. They say the max variation from the cam is 2mm which sounds tiny till you see it. That is about the thickness of a toothpick. I can see it being an issue when engraving smaller items. fingers crossed it works out or I'll be sending it back for an S1.
This was a great review and focused on some seriously important aspects; ie the matchstick test. The cam on the WeCreat gave a false sense of security. I did end up going with the S1, and their camera feature is off a good 1/16" for me in one axis and 1/64" in the other. Either way, I need to run a test like you did so I can at least figure out how to compensate. Thanks and well done!
Thanks Matt! Contact their technical support and they should be able to help you dial it in there are several calibrators as well as some hidden ones the tech have access to (I know the ultra has hidden ones)
@@BitnerBuilt Will do! Thank you for the suggestion.
BTW Have you messed with the Snapshot Preview on the S1? I noticed that after taking a picture of the stickers during calibration, it trims 1.50" off the front image, yet there is an 1" at the back of the machine you can't use. You can access that 1.50" at the front during calibration, but you can't see it even if it was in view.
Ultimately, this falls into line with your calibration suggestion as well. Just curious if you had experienced it at all. I couldn't find anything when I went down that rabbit hole.
@@mattspawn1975 I actually haven’t played with that, I own a bunch (too many 😂) lasers so I usually gravitate towards my expensive ones lately, very accurate cameras more powerful etc so I haven’t gotten around to playing with that yet. I was just sent the new m1 ultra and that has the same photo snapshot function so I’m sure I will be playing with it in the next week or two
@@BitnerBuilt "So many lasers, so little time." Seriously, who could blame you?
thanks for info. Was thinking about these machines as my first. that's a big issue that you mentioned and not really mentioned by other reviewers
It’s touched on by some - I don’t watch others reviews to keep mine un -influenced but when I find a big negative I watch others to see if it’s just me. And a lot gently touch on it..but one guys video I watched he said just use the middle…..
@@BitnerBuilt any thoughts about roly lasermatic mk2? Sounds like missing autofocus but otherwise good laser.
@@edwardliu1154 I hadn’t ever heard of that one before so I just took a look at it, the big thing that immediately jets out to me is that it has a camera that can be used with Lightburn because it doesn’t have its own software. If you’ve never tried to add a camera to Lightburn before it is crazy, I spent over $1000 building out an enclosure for an open open gantry laser thathad, and I went through buying five different cameras and trying to add them into Lightburn so that I could get that camera functionality and in all honesty they were all horrible and I never got it to work right. The best I was able to achieve was using the camera to watch my to make sure that it was coming out. OK, but definitely not for precise layout. Camera is really Something has to be implemented in its own native software, in this situation, they’re giving you technically the functionality but they’re passing off the responsibility to you to get a calibrated and installed correctly in the software. That’s not to say that it can’t be done. I’ve seen some guys that have been able to build enclosures with aftermarket cameras and use it in Lightbourn, but I’m pretty good with LB stuff and I just couldn’t get it to work
@@edwardliu1154 I had two and both broken.
Any chance you'll review the Lasermatic MK2 in the future?
Hmm I’ll take a look at it and see, I get emails from most of them asking to review, I try to pick and choose ones I’m interested in since I only do 4-5 videos a month on a bunch of different topics.
@@BitnerBuilt greatly appreciate it. I forgot to ask, how did you set up that 15 point test? That was insane at how accurate the S1 was.
@@noelv1976 I super glued the 15 matchsticks to a board (I just laid them the first time and the air assist blew them away 😂) and then just mapped them using the s1 laser cross hairs as I normally would. The only really really good camera I have found so far is the xTool f1 ultra and that’s in a smaller space with a ton of riser height.
@@BitnerBuilt I saw the glue part lol, didn't know you had to manually map out each matchstick lol... guess it makes sense since it doesn't have a camera
@@noelv1976yea but it didn’t take long maybe 2-3 seconds per match stick. Batch processing where you have to map can be time consuming that’s where a camera is more prefered
Yes the camera is not 100% accurate at the moment, hopefully they can fix the camera accuracy issue.
The best way to get very accurate laser engravings is the following.
Use the rectangle, square or circles shapes in Wecreat software and input your exact dimensions, and line it up with your material you are engraving, from what it shows on camera.
After you line up material shapes and they match the exact dimensions, you need to put the logo or design of what you are going to engrave in that drawn shaped box and use the align tool, which shows if it's centred.
After you have centred, you can auto focus and click start, and click on the frame button, which will draw outline of the box that you added in the software.
If the framing and laser is accurate around your material, everything should be good, as your content or image that you are engraving is centered within that box.
If you see the laser red dot is off, when it goes around the perimeter of the material, you can adjust the material, or adjust the shaped box in the software and move accordingly, and re frame, to see everything is aligned.
If you want to do accurate batch processing, just follow the same process above, and build a jig, to place all your material or product's in and once you have done framing on top of the jig you made and is accurate with framing, save the project file and you are good.
The framing button makes a significant difference, in being able to get accurate engravings.
With regards to auto focus, you can turn that off in settings, but I do agree, there should be an option to turn it off on the main screen, instead of having to go to settings, where it says "keep same height"
Wecreat does a great job with feedback and suggestions. If you email them this issue or any issues and suggestions, on how to improve it, they most likely will look to resolve any issues people are emailing them about, in future software updates.
Wecreat fixed a few software issues, I emailed them about, when I first bought the laser engraver.
The software has improved a lot in the new updated version, as long people keep providing new suggestions through email, the software will continue to get better.
Thanks for the very detailed response. I get that there are ways to accommodate and to use jigs but it would be nice to not have to do that in the first place. The appeal with the camera is to be able to do quick AI batch processing without the use of a jig. I am able to do that with my xtool P2 for example. If your regulated to having to use jigs, then the positioning system is no better than utilizing an open gantry machine. Once you have that jig set up and the file set up, you can run it all the time. I have direct contacts at the company, I am very happy with the machine overall especially as it’s their first dab into the engraver space, they acknowledge the problem and we’ve talked about some things about it, so I do look forward to seeing what they come out with to eliminate the issue and then they’ll have a really solid machine.
I agree 100% with you!
I bought the machine, knowing it's a new company and it will have it's quirks, because it's a new software and machine.
The first software did not have a "framing option", and the alignment tool was not working properly. Both these issues are fixed now, which is good.
Atleast with the framing button in the new software, you can see if your engravings, will be accurate or not, it's usable.
The machine has potential long term to do well, as long, as they keep getting feed back and suggestions from people who are using the machine, and they continuously fix these issues and implement new suggestions.