Home › Guides › xTool M1 Ultra settings — power & speed cheat…
xTool M1 Ultra settings — power & speed cheat sheet
The xTool M1 Ultra is an enclosed 4-in-1 craft machine: a 455 nm blue diode laser (10 W or 20 W), a swappable cutting-blade carriage, a pen-drawing head and an inkjet module built into the same body. Unlike the xTool F1 or F2 series, there is no infrared laser option here — just the one diode at two power tiers. We have not run an M1 Ultra through our own shop; these are starting points from xTool's own published specifications and material data, cross-checked against community reports, not results from testing this machine ourselves. xTool discontinued the M1 Ultra in July 2026, so this guide is for the owners who already have one: the M2 that followed it narrows the machine down to printing and laser work, dropping the cutting blade and the pen module, so it is not a like-for-like replacement.
xTool M1 Ultra settings (power % / speed mm/min / passes)
xTool publishes its own starting points inside XCS's Material Library, sorted by exact material, job and laser wattage. Those numbers are given in millimetres per second (mm/s); the table below converts them to millimetres per minute (mm/min, ×60) to match the other gantry-based machines on this site. xTool gates its own copy of that library behind an account, so the per-material rows below come from a community-maintained index that mirrors it, not from xTool directly; the maximum-cutting-thickness figures are xTool’s own published lab numbers. Neither is a result from running an M1 Ultra ourselves, so confirm with your own material test grid before a real job — diode batch, coating and even material moisture shift these numbers.
| Material | Job | Laser | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basswood plywood 3 mm | Cut | Diode 10 W | 90% / 300 / 1 pass |
| Basswood plywood 3 mm | Cut | Diode 20 W | 90% / 600 / 1 pass |
| Basswood plywood 3 mm | Engrave | Diode 10 W | 55% / 7800 / 1 pass |
| Basswood plywood 3 mm | Engrave | Diode 20 W | 30% / 7800 / 1 pass |
| Black acrylic 3 mm | Cut | Diode 10 W | 100% / 180 / 2 passes |
| Black acrylic 3 mm | Cut | Diode 20 W | 70% / 180 / 1 pass |
| Black acrylic 3 mm | Engrave | Diode 10 W | 20% / 12000 / 1 pass |
| Black acrylic 3 mm | Engrave | Diode 20 W | 13% / 12000 / 1 pass |
| PU leather, colour-change | Score | Diode 10 W | 20% / 4200 / 1 pass |
| PU leather, colour-change | Score | Diode 20 W | 15% / 6000 / 1 pass |
| Coated stainless tumbler (rotary) | Engrave | Diode 10 W | 80% / 6000 / 1 pass |
| Coated stainless tumbler (rotary) | Engrave | Diode 20 W | 30% / 3600 / 1 pass |
10 W vs 20 W: xTool sells the M1 Ultra with either laser module, and the other one can be bought separately later. The 20 W module roughly doubles cut speed at similar power and raises xTool's own published cutting ceiling from 6 mm basswood on 10 W to 10 mm basswood on 20 W; engrave and fill speeds are close between the two, so the gap matters most when you are cutting all the way through, not marking a surface.
Metal: xTool does not publish plain bare-metal settings for the M1 Ultra, because a 455 nm diode cannot cut or deep-engrave metal — it only ablates a coating or oxide layer. The tumbler row above is a powder-coated blank run through the rotary attachment, not bare stainless steel; anodised aluminium works the same way — start low and raise power in 5% steps on a spare piece.
Get an exact price for the xTool M1 Ultra
Settings tell you the power and speed; turning that into a price means multiplying job time by your hourly rate and adding material and setup. Run your cut or engrave time through the laser cutting time calculator, then use the calculator to turn that time into a full quote.
What an M1 Ultra gets through
The M1 Ultra is a craft machine as much as a laser, so what runs out is the blade side and the stock the settings above were written for.
Replacement cutting blades: Check price on Amazon ↗
Adhesive vinyl sheets: Check price on Amazon ↗
Basswood sheets 3 mm: Check price on Amazon ↗
Black acrylic sheets 3 mm: Check price on Amazon ↗
Check that a blade listing names the M1 Ultra before you buy: xTool discontinued the machine in July 2026, and blades made for other cutters may not fit its carriage.
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
The xTool M1 Ultra's laser working area is 300 × 300 mm, with a maximum material thickness of 27 mm without the riser base and 125 mm with it fitted (auto-measure itself only reads up to 33 mm, so anything taller needs the thickness entered by hand). Blade cutting uses the same 300 × 300 mm area for the fine-point and rotary blades, but drops slightly to 295 × 295 mm with the tapered cutting blade fitted; inkjet printing is smaller again at 296 × 286 mm. That 300 mm square — not the machine's own 620 × 498 mm footprint — is what actually decides which stock sizes go in without trimming first.
| Common stock | Size | On this machine |
|---|---|---|
| Business card | 85 × 54 mm | Fits |
| A6 sheet | 105 × 148 mm | Fits |
| A5 sheet | 148 × 210 mm | Fits |
| A4 sheet | 297 × 210 mm | Fits, with almost no margin on the long edge |
| 12 × 12 in scrapbook card | 305 × 305 mm | Does not fit — 5 mm over on both edges |
| Round tumbler, with RA2 Pro rotary | ≤99 mm diameter (roller) / ≤108 mm (chuck) | Fits |
| 400 × 400 mm sheet | 400 × 400 mm | Does not fit — cut it down first |
The Rotary Attachment 2 Pro is not bundled with every kit — it ships only in the deluxe bundle and needs the riser base plus a 12-pin mini-USB cable to connect, so check what is actually in the box before planning a tumbler run.
What the xTool M1 Ultra cannot do
Knowing the hard limits saves more time than any settings tweak:
- No infrared laser, so no real metal work. The M1 Ultra is a single 455 nm blue diode at 10 W or 20 W — there is no infrared module like the F1 or F2 series carries. It can only ablate a coating or anodised layer on metal, not cut or deep-engrave bare metal; xTool's own support pages point metal-relief engraving jobs to the F1 Ultra instead.
- No clear acrylic or glass. The 455 nm beam passes straight through transparent material, the same physics limit as every diode machine on this site. Dark or coated acrylic and glass can be marked; clear needs a different laser entirely.
- Blade cutting stops at 2.5 mm. The tapered cutting blade tops out at 2.5 mm (xTool names leather and PVC); the fine-point blade at 1.5 mm (paper, stickers and vinyl). Neither blade adjusts around that ceiling, whatever pressure is dialled in.
- No built-in camera. Unlike camera-equipped competitors, the M1 Ultra positions with xTool's Pinpoint system and a manual photo-upload step for irregular objects, not a live camera preview.
- Blade mode and the riser base don't mix. Fit the riser base to laser-process a taller piece and blade cutting is disabled for that setup; inkjet printing with the riser base fitted is not supported yet either.
- No LightBurn. The M1 Ultra only runs through xTool Creative Space or xTool Studio; connecting it to LightBurn disables most of its multi-module features.
Troubleshooting: symptom, cause, fix
| Symptom | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Engrave lands offset from the XCS preview | The laser module's red crosshair is out of alignment with the baseplate's white frame mark, or with the XCS canvas origin — more likely right after swapping laser modules | Run XCS's crosshair alignment step before the job, and repeat it whenever you switch between the 10 W and 20 W modules. |
| Auto-measure fails or times out | The material is taller than the 33 mm auto-measure ceiling, or is dark, reflective or uneven enough that the sensor can't get a reading | Enter the thickness manually instead of relying on auto-measure, or fit the riser base for anything near 33 mm. |
| M1 Ultra won't connect over Wi-Fi | Same class of issue as other xTool machines: a 5 GHz-only network, an active VPN, or special characters in the SSID | Connect over USB first, switch the router to 2.4 GHz with a plain SSID, and update firmware over USB before retrying Wi-Fi. |
| Blade cut leaves a small overcut at corners | xTool confirms this is a normal property of the cutting and rotary blades — the edge meets the material at an angle rather than perpendicular, so it overshoots slightly for a clean release | Nothing to fix in settings; design a small corner radius if it matters, or switch to the fine-point blade for finer detail. |
| XCS reports no blade detected or the wrong module | The multi-function carriage or blade isn't fully seated, or its contacts are dirty | Reseat the module until the locking bar clicks, and wipe the connector pins clean. |
| Machine makes a bump or collision sound when it resets | M1 Ultra homes by motor-current detection rather than the photoelectric sensor on the M1 and S1, so the carriage briefly touches the frame on every reset | Nothing to fix — this is expected behaviour, not a crash or a jam. |
Material cost per sheet
The M1 Ultra's 300 × 300 mm bed is closer to a large cutting mat than a full sheet, so cost comes from small-format blanks — basswood and acrylic cut close to size, single hides of leather, sheets of cardstock — rather than nesting parts across a full board. Buying stock already close to 300 mm square usually beats buying a bigger sheet and trimming it down yourself; see where to buy laser materials for suppliers who stock these smaller formats.
FAQ
Does the xTool M1 Ultra have an infrared laser?
No. The M1 Ultra ships with a single 455 nm blue diode laser at either 10 W or 20 W — xTool does not offer an infrared or dual-laser version of this machine. For a diode-plus-infrared combination, look at the xTool F1 or F2 series instead.
What is the xTool M1 Ultra's working area?
300 × 300 mm for laser engraving and cutting, the same for the fine-point and rotary blades, 295 × 295 mm with the tapered cutting blade fitted, and 296 × 286 mm for inkjet printing. Maximum material thickness is 27 mm without the riser base or 125 mm with it, though auto-measure itself only reads up to 33 mm.
Can the xTool M1 Ultra cut or engrave metal?
Not bare metal. Its 455 nm diode can only ablate a coating, paint or anodised layer to reveal the metal underneath, the same trick as any diode laser, not cut through metal or engrave a deep relief into it. xTool's own support documentation points metal-relief work to the F1 Ultra, which adds an infrared laser the M1 Ultra does not have.
Is the Rotary Attachment included with the xTool M1 Ultra?
Only in the deluxe bundle. The Rotary Attachment 2 Pro is sold separately otherwise, and either way it needs the M1 Ultra riser base and a 12-pin mini-USB cable to connect. Once fitted, it processes cylinders up to 99 mm diameter in roller mode or 108 mm in chuck mode, but it does not support blade cutting, pen drawing or inkjet printing.
How much does it cost to run the xTool M1 Ultra?
Laser jobs are priced by machine time: cut or engrave time worked out from speed, passes and area, multiplied by your hourly rate, plus material and setup. Run the job through the free laser cutting time calculator, then add material cost and your hourly rate for a full quote.