Welcome to xTool Community Support
xTool S1
S1 - Cutting 3mm Plywood
kathreya
Published on Nov 24,2025
3
136

My S1 20W is less than a week old. 

I do a lot of cutting of intricate designs using 3mm (1/8 inch) pine plywood from Home Depot. I have had very good results with a D1 Pro 10W in the past, while cutting 3mm pine plywood, at 100% power, 3mm/s, on a honeycomb bed, with exhaust and air assist. The cut lines would be thin and clean on both sides, with almost no charring. I paint my plywood prior to cutting, so clean cuts are essential for me.

On my new S1 20W, I am not seeing that kind of cut quality, regardless of the power/speed settings, with the exhaust and built-in air assist (at full speed).

Attaching a material test result, where the charring and not-so-clean edges can be seen. In fact, the underside is cleaner than the front side! You can also see the charring in the scoring of the letters on the material test output, which I believe is set to 10% power, 100 mm/s.

What settings have worked for you? Is there an issue with focus on my laser head? I have tried to lower the head mm by mm in my tests with no effect, but I think that is for cutting thicker wood. Not sure if there is a way to raise the head and try.

Speed is of essence for me, so I would like to choose the fastest speed with the lowest power setting to minimize charring. The reason I got a 20W is for speed.

For now, as a workaround, I am flipping my material upside down, so that the painted side is on the bed, with backside facing up. 

Preview
Attach Files
  • S1 Cut Test Front.jpeg
  • S1 Cut Test Back.jpeg
  • Laser Module
    xTool Logo

    Contact Us

    🇺🇸+1 (888) 528-2293
    Service Live Chat

    Copyright © 2025 xTool All Rights Reserved.