Acmer’s Massive New Laser/CNC Can Cut an Entire Sheet of Plywood
You’ll be able to cut a full 4x8-foot sheet of plywood on Acmer’s upcoming X1 Ultra laser cutter/CNC router.
Most of the tools we feature around here tend to be on the smaller scale. It is unusual that we talk about tools that wouldn’t fit on a sturdy desk. But sometimes a maker needs to work on a larger scale and that is particularly true when it comes to woodworking tasks, like furniture construction. Cutting an entire 4x8-foot sheet of plywood is usually the kind of thing you can only do with expensive industrial CNC routers. But Acmer may finally make it affordable with the upcoming release of their new Acmer X1 laser cutter/CNC router.
The Acmer X1 is set to launch through a Kickstarter campaign going live in September, but there are enough pre-launch details available to get me excited. The most compelling of those features is the machine’s sheer size. It will be available in three different sizes and the smallest has a working area of about 30x30”, which is useful even if it isn’t particularly groundbreaking. The largest — the Acmer X1 Ultra — has a whopping 49x100” working area and those of you who can divide by 12 will recognize that as being more than enough for a full 4x8’ sheet of plywood.
That size would have me interested even if it were just a CNC router, but it is also a very powerful laser cutter. In addition to the 200W CNC router head, there is also a 120W diode laser head and 4W infrared laser head. The 120W diode laser can cut through up to 40mm of material — though that is paulownia wood in the example, which is basically an Asian alternative to balsa wood. But “plywood” (type unknown) can be up to 28mm thick and black acrylic can be up to 30mm thick. 120W is a very big number for a diode laser (so big that it needs water-cooling), so that makes sense. The 4W infrared laser is mostly good for marking metals.
Other features include auto focus and a “precision work area,” which is one 15x15” corner of the bed where there is a camera for positioning. The Acmer X1 is also fully enclosed, which is great news. The laser will be compatible with both Lightburn and Acmer Studio. The CNC will be compatible with Candle, UGS, and Easel. That implies the machine’s controller is running some form of GRBL and if it is, then other software should be compatible, too.
We don’t yet have information on the prices of the different Acmer X1 models, but the teaser page says that “VIP-Exclusive Prices start at $2999.” Presumably, that is for the small X1 model (not the X1 Plus or X1 Ultra). If Acmer can get the X1 Ultra out for less than $5000, it will be very tempting.