Wooden Family Celebrations Wall Calendar with Hanging Discs

Preparation and Safety

• Ventilation: Ensure your smoke purifier is on or your exhaust fan is venting outside. Cutting wood produces significant smoke and char.
• Air Assist: Always use Air Assist when cutting wood. It blows away debris and prevents the wood from catching fire, resulting in cleaner cuts.
• Fire Safety: Never leave your laser unattended while cutting.

Materials Checklist

• Wood: 3mm (1/8") Baltic Birch Plywood or Basswood.
  • Why: It cuts fast on the S1, is lightweight for hanging, and has a nice light color for contrast engraving.
• Hardware:
  • Jump Rings: 10mm or 12mm metal rings (silver or gold).
  • Alternative: "S-hooks" are easier for customers to assemble without tools.

Physical Setup in the Machine

1. Place the Material: Lay your wood flat on the honeycomb panel or slats.
2. Secure the Wood: Use "honeycomb pins" or magnets to ensure the wood is perfectly flat. If the wood is warped, the laser will lose focus, and it won't cut through.
3. Position the Laser Head: Manually move the laser head (or use the software arrows) to the top-left corner of your material.

Configuring xTool Creative Space (XCS)

1. Connect Your Device: Open XCS and connect to your S1 or P2 via USB, Wi-Fi, or IP.
2. Select Mode:
   • S1: Choose Process on Flat (unless using the riser base/rotary).
   • P2: Choose Slat Flat.
3. Capture the Canvas: * On the P2, click Refresh to take a wide-angle photo of your wood.
   • On the S1, use the Twin-Point Positioning feature to define your work area, as it does not have a camera.
4. Import Your Design: Open the xcs file you downloaded from Atomm.

Setting the Focus

Proper focus is the difference between a clean cut and a scorched mess.

• Auto-Measure: In the right-hand panel, click the Auto-measure icon (it looks like a small ruler/target).
• S1: The probe will drop down to touch the wood.
• P2: The laser head will move over the material to measure the height via the built-in sensor.

Adjusting "Cut" Parameters

Select your design on the canvas to open the settings panel on the right.

1. Processing Type: Change from "Score" or "Engrave" to Cut.
2. Setting the Power/Speed:
   • Presets: If you are using xTool branded materials, select the material from the "User-defined" dropdown for automatic settings.
   • Manual: For generic 3mm Basswood, a good starting point is:
     • S1 (40W): Power 100%, Speed 8–10 mm/s.
     • P2 (55W): Power 100%, Speed 15–20 mm/s.
3. Passes: Set to 1 unless the wood is exceptionally thick (over 10mm).

Framing and Starting

1. Framing: Click Framing on the bottom right. The laser head will move in a rectangle to show you exactly where the cut will happen. Ensure it doesn't hit any pins or magnets.
2. Process: Click Process, then Start.
3. Physical Button: Finally, press the Start button on the machine itself to begin the cut.