Is it worth it? xTool 40W Diode Laser Review
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- Опубліковано 31 січ 2023
- xTool just came out with their new 40W module. This is now the most powerful diode laser you can get. Let's test it out and see how it stacks up against the competition!
I got a few things wrong on this video, check out the follow up here: • I was wrong about the ...
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I was wrong about this, find out what: ua-cam.com/video/z-UxCy-Gg48/v-deo.html
That fire thing is real. I turned to eat a sindwich and the place got bright real quick.
Never leave the laser unattended! (or with a fan nearby)
Great review Brandon, just a quick note you said that you cannot put the 20w back on after converting, any of the pro modules can still be used with the new rail and mother board. I had to put the 20w back on and I am actually using it now for a video I am working on.
Oh awesome, I"ll need to make a follow up and show that off. I should have just tried it to see!
Thanks for the valuable information-love your fast paced reviews. Other UA-cam reviewers I have to turn the speed up double to get thru it all.
Hi, keep coming back to your videos so thanks a bunch for making such great content. What I am strugglig to find clear advice on is whether this can cut rubber up to 1.5mm thick? Have you tested it with rubber? or have any other ideas/advice?
Really appreciate your insight Brandon as I learn the world of lasers. Two questions. One about do you lose detail with the higher watt diode. And two metal. I think this may separate diode and CO2 like clear acrylic does. But still not sure about metal and normal diode lasers. Does 40 watt move the needle?
I decided to get an xTool 10W to start with. I also ordered the Enclosure and an Air-Assist. It might be slow but it will at least cut and engrave. Once I get familiar with the machine and I see a market for my products, I will get the 40W module. As I have no idea if I will even sell one product in this current market, I decided to start with a Diode machine rather than forking out a fortune on a large footprint CO2.
The footprint (or lack thereof) is pretty underated.
And you can upgrade the footprint ;)
Thanks for the great video. I have a question. Do you know where the 40 Watt Laser falls on the light spectrum. I design safety glasses and can't seem to find the detail. Most of what I've seen is around 500Nm which is in the general Bonding arena.
awesome stuff Brandon! . . . did you get a new shop man? Look at all that space!!!!
It is a new space! Very excited to start building things again. I need to add in a few Star Wars panels ;)
Great review! You can however still use your Pro 5, 10, or 20W laser directly on the new setup. You just don't plug in that additional connection that's going to the extra fan on the 40W. I ran my 20W on the setup and it worked just fine.
Oh awesome, thanks for letting me know!
@@makeorbreakshop No worries! Trust me I wish UA-cam allowed video edits rather then just cutting. I would have used it a million time over now ;)
I would love to see oxygen assist cutting aluminum
@@alangrimmer7966 I haven’t forgotten 😅
Grade review Brandon what would be the most economical or cheapest laser to do engraving on stainless steel 316 eg jewellery please let me know. I'm new on this.
Great video. Can the 20w etch an AR-15 lower? They are anodized aluminum.
Have been running the original xtool 10w NON pro for a couple years now. Its been my workhorse for the small things I make, but has recently started stopping mid burn on everything even after multiple attempts with cleaning, customer support assistance, etc. So I decided I want to upgrade and was considering the 40w, but xtool is telling me I need to purchase a pro AND then the 40w like you said in the video. Kind of pointless to buy the pro when its only for the rail system and it would be waste of the laser. I wish they offered a complete 40w kit. Im considering throwing my hat into the co2 ring and going with an Omtech 50w. Currently its $250 off so its pretty close to the same price if I would purchase the pro and then the 40w upgrade. Whats your opinion? Keep up the videos too! Theyre very informative!
So can you still cut the 2x4 with faster multiple passes without fire?
Yes it can. Chad did it on his channel over a week ago. Xtool have already said that you can also get a 5w pro frame and use it on that.
I use it on a 10wd1 so it all works.
Can it cut polycarbonate or Plexiglass type of material? To do channel letters for instance?
The co2 can cut transparent lexan?
Just out of curiosity; how many CFI or PSI are you pumping out of your air compressor ?
Does the laser extension support the new 40W laser module?
The cheapest upgrade path is actually to get a 5W D1 Pro (~$400) + 40W module ($999), this is what Xtool recommended in their 40W launch livestream.
Good catch, I'll make that correction in the comments.
@@makeorbreakshop but wont you still need a new motherboard and arm for the laser?
Thank you for this review, this arms race as you call it is making me worry about FOMO when I finally buy one of these. One request, when you take pictures of your test sheets, can you put a high contrast background behind them, like a sheet of bright orange paper?
Yeh I'll do a better job of showing those on screen next time!
Which Laser can Engrave Zinc Alloy with Electroplated Coating on a Budget?
Huge pro is that you can hang a diode on a wall, or take it to shows to burn in person outdoors. CO2 lasers are EXTREMELY HUGE and bulky. I got an Omtech 60w and sold it within a year because of this. I have a small shop and couldn't afford the space. I love my atomstack x20, and getting a 40w will be a huge game changer.
Good point! Still would be a little worried having it out in public unless you had a good enclosure/way to protect the light from people watching. But way easier than a CO2.
@@makeorbreakshop yeah I use the laser shroud on my atomstack and burn outdoors, so it seems fine.
i used to use a friends k40 style laser... the extremely small bed size made it a problem to do what i wanted to do. im looking at the 40watt xtool with the extended workspace upgrade. id love to see a review of that with cuts into 1/2 and 3/4" plywood
That compressor in the background looks nice. ;)
What compressor would you suggest as an upgrade to the basic xTool one?
Thanks!
looks like a big pump from a fish tank
To be honest I'm not totally sure what machine that one came with. I think it was for a larger CO2 machine. But I would say the one from xTool will still get the job done! I actually like the one from Atomstack the best since it has a few different settings if you want to turn down the air depending on the type of project your working on.
@@makeorbreakshop Well, it does the job for most engraving or cutting thin materials but, it starts to show it's limits on more heavy duty jobs.
Will it mark silver and gold?
What do you recommend for a in home laser that’s on the more quiet side? I really don’t want to buy a glowforge but I’m also worried about investing in a 50w co2 if it’s going to be loud enough for the neighborhood to hear
Usually the issue isn't the laser itself but the air compressor. There are a few quieter air compressors out there that could be a good option.
Cuts thin steel which C02 cannot do, why wasnt this mentioned?
What are your thoughts on LaserStar machines.
At 8:03, you show cut tests and say it compares the omtech 50w to the D1 40w. The D1 cut card says 20w on it. Did you mix up the cards? Is that an acurate comparison of the 50w vs 40w?
Ah, wrote 20 instead of 40, good catch! It is on the 40W from xTool and not the 20.
That $1700 price tag is crazy! The reason most people buy diode lasers is their low entry cost. Just go for the omtech at that point. More power, way faster, enclosure. This is going to be a tough sell.
Yeah, the K40 isn't super user friendly but it is very fast and cuts well. not to mention it is a tiny fraction of the cost of the x tool
Diode lasers are still a lot more portable. I travel to remote sites for 12 months at a time. Transporting something like the Gweike/Polar is out of the question.
If portability matters...then it really matters! I just moved all of my lasers to a new shop and the CO2's were the hardest things to move. And that includes table saws/bandsaws etc.
@@makeorbreakshop how often do you move your lasercutters? Heres a hint in 99.99% of the cases portability doesnt matter
The only model they have under $2000 only has an 8x12 work area. You also have to deal with water cooling.
Thanks Brandon, very informative and with my budget, I’m torn between saving a little extra for fibre/CO2 or going with a high watt diode something like this straight away. Just not prepared to buy both xtool 10w and the 40w head.
If you've got some time I might wait a little bit. I'm pretty sure they will start selling the D1 Pro with the 40W as an option so you don't have to buy an additional laser head.
It's already available on their site, 10W frame w' 40W laser (only the 40W is shipped) $1700
I feel like we can still expand the increasing wattage, but we might have to put it in a mirror frame like a co2 laser. it would be a similar speed as a co2 without the need for a cooling unit. Of course price is a major issue.
Yeh the increasing weight is going to make it harder and harder to hit the higher speeds than a CO2 can do.
@@makeorbreakshop which begs the question how long until deminishing returns hits, not being able to move fast enough to make use of the higher power
wonde if you can cut thicker wood if you wet it down , might even use a bromium solution to make the wood self extinguish
Also, labeling your test samples may help when presenting them. Having to zoom in and turn my head to find out which laser cut what in a three second clip is not helpful.
Thanks, i'll make it easier next time!
What is the size of the laser point? Is it much bigger than a 20w diode?
0.08 x 0.10 for the 20W and 0.15 x 0.15 for the 40W. I forgot to mention that in the video. But with all on my testing I haven't found a massive difference with the engrave/cut quality with the change in laser dot size.
Have some experience with 100w CO2 laser, and I was usually running engraving with 300mm/s speed. Some diode lasers are advertised to be able to run up to 24000mm/min, which is equal to 400mm/s, so theoretically they could do the same as CO2 laser. Perhaps in case of 300mm/s even 40w optical power would not be enough fo good result, but I am confused why people are not running such tests on yt - usually they go up to 10000mm/min.
6:31 "for less than $1000"
more like less than $400 dollars, the K40s are $369 on ebay all day long and parts are cheap and easy to find and they have open source software. unlike the $1700 Xtool. for the cost of a X tool you could buy 4 K40 lasers and have money left over. not to mention that you can't cut clear acrylic with a diode laser
You can totally get a cheap one. I would at least upgrade the board to one from Cohesion 3D so you can run Lightburn, those are usually at least $150-$200. But if you only need to do pretty small parts/projects and like to tinker the k40 is really hard to beat.
Can the 40W easily integrate if you are using the rail extension kit? Does it use the same cable from the control board to the laser as the 10W and 20W?
I would check with xTool. It does take new cables and the connection is different on the 40W vs the 10/20W so i'm guessing they will need to provide a longer cable to support it.
It does i got the combo upgrade from a 10wd1. Works normal
@@thatonegamer2709do you ever go back and use the 10w for more detail in picture engraving?
@@musc258 example...with the 10w id only do pictures 9x12 *biggest* and it would take hours it being on wood or canvas..what i tried since it cut the time to a 1/4 of the time is that i made a few of the same images twice as big and the detail comparinson is almost alike, obviously it took me days to figure out my settings to get a sweet spot for my engravings, but it worked. Unless youre doing small images i would bother with the 10w, cus then that would be a whole new setup and i dont have room for another machine, maybe later on if the 5w goes down in price ill snag it and switch out the diode but for now i dont see the point for the work i do.
If you mess with the settings youd be surprise the detail you can get.
Cool, but how about Laser spot size? As I understand, when combining 4-8 lasers for 40w power you get MUCH (like ^3?) larger spot size, thus making detailed and photo engraving less accurate. I’d say that should be important fact of the total review.
0.08 x 0.10 for the 20W and 0.15 x 0.15 for the 40W. I forgot to mention that in the video. But with all on my testing I haven't found a massive difference with the engrave/cut quality with the change in laser dot size.
5w d1 pro will be available soon for less. Site says will ship mid feb
good point!
Wow³ What happens if you had three good espresso?
Just hit 2x speed on the video to find out.
Note to anyone thinking of purchasing - the 40w module and the extension are not YET compatible. The 40w requires a different power cable and they haven't made one long enough for the extension yet and will not be available for several weeks. They don't tell you this, so I am sharing here.
I have a half dozen different saws to cut wood this thick. It sure is interesting, but I just don’t see the need.
Yeh if your just doing straight cuts metal slicing into wood is hard to beat!
When they add a CNC module then I might buy one
Not sure if they will go the CNC route, overall they would need a different frame to support the load and z height. You'll usually see CNC's adding a laser module but not the other way around.
@@makeorbreakshop thanks for the reply! I guess that make sense from rigidity perspective. However, they’re pretty much exact tool with just different heads. Perhaps if all anyone needs is a laser then extra rigidity is overkill
40 watt????? I have a 20 and now i want a 40!!! does atomstack have a 40??? i have the atomstack x20. could i hook up this module to the atomstack x20?
So I would stay tuned for my next video ;)
@@makeorbreakshop oh boyyyy
Download link gets me nothing but an ad! I put in email address and nothing, nothing! Checked all folders including spam and NOTHING!
I wish they had a way of attaching an inexpensive Fibre laser so we can etch metal. Alas ...
They do have an infared module that opens up some metal options.
Has it been reviewed yet?
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I can’t tell if he’s reviewing some thing or if he’s an auctioneer? Talks so fast with so many cuts it’s incredibly hard to follow.
just turn off the sound and turn the closed captions on. But even then it does not get above the level of advertisement. :(
$1000??? wtf?!?!?
F this! Get a 60w CO2 .... THIS THING IS USELESS! YOU CAN'T EVEN CUT TRANSPARENT OR SEMI TRANSPARENT COLORED PLEXI which is like the primary use case with consumer-grade lasers.... Cutting thin wood gets old quick!
Your cutting cardboard!!!?? And the lazer is a grand ? Your not so boned up in buisness or selling products!!!!!! Not impressed!!!!
You talk to much......
Feel free to not watch