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xTool F2 settings — 15W diode & 5W IR cheat sheet
Looking for xTool F2 settings for tumblers, slate, glass, stainless steel, PLA or plastic? Quick answer: the F2 has two lasers, a 15 W blue diode and a 5 W infrared (1064 nm), and xTool recommends the diode for wood, leather, card and coated drinkware and the infrared head for metal. Powder-coated tumblers are logged at 61% and 200 mm/s (Yeti-style) or 95% and 350 mm/s (Stanley-style), one pass; black PLA engraves with the infrared head at 90% and 80 mm/s. xTool does not publish a bare stainless preset we could read, so for steel use xTool's own colour-array method below. All numbers are settings shared by owners on xTool's Atomm Materials Lab, not our own cuts — confirm each on scrap with a material test grid. Speeds are in mm/s.
xTool F2 settings (power % / speed mm/s / passes)
The F2 is xTool's 2025 portable galvo machine: a 15 W, 445 ± 15 nm blue diode plus a 5 W, 1064 nm infrared laser, a 115 × 115 mm bed (115 × 400 mm with the slide extension), up to 6,000 mm/s engraving speed and software support only in xTool Studio, not LightBurn. xTool's own Settings page for the F2 explains how to run a material test array but does not list values, and the F2 preset library is loaded inside the app from an endpoint that the site's robots.txt asks automated tools to avoid. So the table below is settings shared by owners, copied whole from public pages on Atomm, xTool's creative and materials platform. Each row keeps the operation label it carried there (Cut or Engrave) and the laser it was run on. Where two records disagreed we left the row out.
| Material | Job | Laser | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powder-coated tumbler (Yeti-style) | Engrave | Diode 15 W | 61% / 200 mm/s / 1 pass |
| Powder-coated tumbler (Stanley-style) | Engrave | Diode 15 W | 95% / 350 mm/s / 1 pass |
| Microfibre fabric | Engrave | Diode 15 W | 40% / 350 mm/s / 1 pass |
| PU leather, 0.42 mm | Cut | Diode 15 W | 50% / 20 mm/s / 1 pass |
| Corrugated cardboard | Cut | Diode 15 W | 70% / 35 mm/s / 1 pass |
| Slate (thickness not logged) | Engrave | Diode 15 W | 70% / 500 mm/s / 1 pass |
| Black PLA sheet | Engrave | Infrared 5 W | 90% / 80 mm/s / 1 pass |
Where each row comes from. Tumblers, fabric, PU leather and cardboard are Atomm Materials Lab category pages (metal, fabric, leather and paper) that print the F2 record as logged. The slate row is from Atomm's slate settings page, which states that its numbers are copied as logged and mostly community submissions that Atomm did not re-run. The PLA row is the F2 infrared record on Atomm's acrylic and plastic page. Treat every row as a starting point: line interval, focus height and the coating or batch all change the result, and records do not always show them.
Slate spread. Other F2 slate records run from 30% to 100% at 80 mm/s on 4.5–6 mm stone, and 90% at 600 mm/s in two passes, so the 70% / 500 mm/s row is a middle-of-the-road start, not a rule. Slate takes high power well, which makes it a good first test material.
What moves the tumbler number. The two tumbler records deliver about the same energy per millimetre (95% of 15 W at 350 mm/s against 61% at 200 mm/s), so they agree on the physics; the difference is the coating. Colour-change coatings behave differently again — one xTool page quotes a pink-to-silver tumbler at 35% and 35 mm/s — so test the coating you actually have.
Stainless steel, metal colour and glass
- Bare stainless steel. We found no F2 bare-steel preset on a page we could read from xTool, and the third-party tables are estimates scaled from other machines, so we publish no number. xTool's FAQ says the 5 W infrared head marks and colours stainless, titanium and copper and can engrave but not cut metal. Use the infrared laser, clean the surface with isopropyl alcohol and run a test array.
- Colour on stainless steel (xTool's method). xTool's colour-engraving lesson says a 1% change in power shifts the hue by one step and a 5 mm/s change in speed does the same. To refine a colour, build a bidirectional gradient array in steps of 0.5% power and 50 mm/s, then reuse the winning cell.
- Glass. The blue laser can mark glass only with black tape or a coating; xTool's FAQ warns that bare glass or crystal can crack. See glass engraving settings before you try it.
- Plastic. Black PLA marks with the infrared head (row above). Clear sheet does nothing on a blue diode, because the beam passes through it.
How the F2 compares with the F1 and F1 Ultra
The F2 sits above the 10 W + 2 W xTool F1 and below the 20 W fiber + 20 W diode F1 Ultra; xTool also sells an F2 Ultra (60 W MOPA fiber + 40 W diode) and an F2 Ultra UV. Our F1 page lists thin leather cut at 90% and 10 mm/s on the 10 W diode, while the F2 record above cuts 0.42 mm PU at 50% and 20 mm/s — the stronger head running faster at lower power, as it should. Do not copy F1 numbers across: line density, focus and the laser head all differ, so treat the F1 page as a sanity check only.
Cutting is the weak spot. xTool says the F2 can cut basswood up to 15 mm and acrylic up to 12 mm with multiple passes, focusing midway through the stock. That is a ceiling, not a recommendation: a 15 W diode needs many slow passes on anything thicker than card, thin leather and 3 mm wood, and we did not find an F2 wood or acrylic cut record we could trust, so none is listed. For sheet work a CO2 machine is the better tool.
Get an exact price for the xTool F2
Settings give you the speed; the cutting time calculator turns your file's path length into a job time. A galvo engraves far faster than it cuts, so for tumbler or tag batches the engraving time is small and handling time dominates. For a full quote with materials and machine rate included, use the calculator on the homepage.
Blanks that suit an F2
The F2 earns its keep on small coated and hard items rather than full sheets.
Slate coasters: Check price on Amazon ↗
Stainless steel tumbler blanks: Check price on Amazon ↗
Anodised aluminium business cards: Check price on Amazon ↗
Leather keychain blanks: Check price on Amazon ↗
Disclosure: some links are affiliate links — if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Prices are approximate list prices at the time of writing; always check the current offer.
Bed size: what actually fits
xTool lists a 115 × 115 mm working area, extendable to 115 × 400 mm with the slide extension, and a maximum processing height of 120 mm.
| Common item | Size | On this machine |
|---|---|---|
| Business card | 85 × 54 mm | Fits |
| Dog tag | 50 × 28 mm | Fits |
| Phone case | ~150 × 75 mm | Needs the slide extension |
| A6 sheet | 105 × 148 mm | Needs the slide extension |
| A5 sheet | 148 × 210 mm | Does not fit — the short edge is longer than the 115 mm axis |
| Tumbler | cylindrical | Needs a rotary attachment (xTool lists the RA3 for the F2) |
| 300 × 300 mm board | 300 × 300 mm | Does not fit — this is not a sheet machine |
For small parts on a slide-extension run, our nesting tool takes your file and this bed size and tells you parts per run.
Is the xTool F2 still sold?
Yes. xTool's product page for the F2 (5 W IR and 15 W diode) and Atomm's September 2026 F-series guide both list it as current, and xTool's support FAQ was updated in October 2026. We could not load xtool.com directly when checking, so this is read from search-indexed copies of those pages. The F2 Ultra (60 W MOPA fiber with 40 W diode) is the stronger sibling: it can cut thin brass and stainless and it is much faster on metal, which the F2 cannot do.
Troubleshooting: symptom, cause, fix
| Symptom | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Metal does not mark | Blue diode selected instead of infrared | Check the Laser type in xTool Studio. Bare metal needs the 1064 nm head; the diode is for wood, leather, card and coated stock. |
| Infrared mark is patchy or weak in a cold room | IR module is cold | xTool has a support page for preheating the IR laser below 25 °C. Preheat before the job. |
| Red and blue marks do not line up | Lasers out of calibration | Run xTool's “Calibrate the Infrared and Blue-Light Lasers” routine. |
| Engraving is lighter than last time | Focus drift or a dirty field lens | Re-focus on the actual surface height and wipe the lens with a clean lens cloth. |
| Software will not connect over Wi-Fi | Network or app problem | Use USB. The F2 works only with xTool Studio, not LightBurn. |
For colour work and general method, see the fiber, MOPA, galvo and UV laser guide, and for the typical power-and-speed ranges by material see the full power and speed chart.
FAQ
What are good xTool F2 settings for tumblers?
Settings shared by owners on xTool's Atomm library show a Yeti-style powder-coated tumbler engraving at 61% power and 200 mm/s in one pass with the 15 W diode, and a Stanley-style tumbler at 95% and 350 mm/s in one pass. Both are similar energy per millimetre. Use a rotary attachment and test on a spare of the same coating.
What are the xTool F2 settings for stainless steel?
We found no bare-steel preset from xTool for the F2 that we could read, so we list no number. xTool says the 5 W infrared laser can mark and colour stainless steel and engrave but not cut it. Use the infrared laser, clean the steel, and follow xTool's colour method: 1% power or 5 mm/s changes one hue, so build a test array in 0.5% and 50 mm/s steps.
What are the xTool F2 settings for slate?
An owner record on Atomm shows slate at 70% power and 500 mm/s in one pass with the 15 W diode. Other records on 4.5 to 6 mm stone run 30% to 100% at 80 mm/s, so start in the middle and adjust. Slate takes power well and makes a good first test material.
Can the xTool F2 engrave glass?
Only with help. xTool's FAQ lists glass for the blue diode with black tape or a coating, and warns that bare glass or crystal can crack. Do a small test on a scrap piece first. See our glass engraving settings page for the general method.
Can the xTool F2 engrave plastic or PLA?
Black PLA engraves with the 5 W infrared laser at 90% power and 80 mm/s in one pass, according to an owner record on Atomm. Clear sheet does not work on the blue diode because the beam passes through it. Check unknown plastics, and never run PVC.
How thick can the xTool F2 cut?
xTool says up to 15 mm basswood and 12 mm acrylic with multiple passes, focusing midway through the material. Treat that as a ceiling. Owner records we trust are for thin stock: 0.42 mm PU leather at 50% and 20 mm/s, and corrugated cardboard at 70% and 35 mm/s. It cannot cut metal.
Does the xTool F2 work with LightBurn?
No. xTool says the F2 works only with xTool Studio at present, on Windows and macOS. That means the settings above are entered as power, speed and passes in xTool Studio, and xTool's material test array is the quickest way to dial in a new material.
Is there an xTool F2 settings PDF?
xTool's official Processing Parameter Settings page for the F2 describes how to run a test array rather than giving a printable table, and the preset library lives inside xTool Studio. Third-party cheat sheets exist, but we did not use them because their sources are unclear.