Whether you're looking to start a small laser business or partake in a hobby, the Atomstack X7 Pro checks almost all the essential boxes. You have the power and safety features that you need, but you'll want to invest in an air assist when aiming towards deeper material cuts. If you're willing to spend a little more or create your own ideal airflow and ventilation system, there's an open world of creative possibilities.

Specifications
  • Brand: Atomstack
  • Laser Power: 10W
  • Working Area: 410 x 400 mm
  • Screen: 3.5" HD Touchscreen
  • Connectivity : USB, Wi-Fi (under development)
  • Software: LaserGRBL, Lightburn
Pros
  • Offline engraving
  • Faster engraving and cutting speeds
  • Variety of safety features included by default
  • Sturdy, aluminum alloy anodized structure design
  • Accessories allow for customization towards your workflow
  • Engraves and cuts a wide range of materials
Cons
  • Wi-Fi connectivity still under development
  • Air assist necessary for thicker cuts (and not included)
  • Touch screen inputs can be a bit sticky
Buy This Product
Atomstack X7 Pro 10W Laser Engraver

The Atomstack X7 Pro offers a powerful dual laser output upgrade for those looking to improve their cutting and engraving results. On top of this, there are several built-in safety and accessibility features to make laser engraving a less daunting initial effort.

However, you ultimately need a laser engraver that'll work in your home or workspace, so can the X7 Pro deliver that as a non-enclosed laser engraver?

Setting Up the Atomstack X7 Pro

Side view of Atomstack X7 Pro engraving included sample wood

When initially setting up the Atomstack X7 Pro, it’s designed for quick assembly. Specifically, Atomstack notes it can be completed within ten to twenty minutes.

 For those with experience setting up similar machine types, that's a realistic estimate.

However, if you’re new to this, there’s some visual ambiguity to some parts of the installation process. 
This doesn’t occur when putting the frame together or getting the belts measured and fitted but rather when you’re moving on to the final touches.

If you're being especially careful, you'll spend more time puzzling out the laser bracket mounting groups or the best places to secure the cables with zip-ties. Ideally, I feel the final transition could have been smoother if Atomstack had included an instructional video on the included USB stick.

Of the fine-tuning practices, I would advise making sure that you check the tightness of the eccentric nuts to ensure smoother cuts and engravings. After tightening, tilt the X7 Pro at a 45-degree angle and watch the results. If the bracket slides at a constant speed, you’ll know you have it right.

Atomstack X7 Pro Technical Specifications

Atomstack X7 Pro laser bottom

With the Atomstack X7 Pro, much of the focus is on the diode laser with its 10W dual laser power output. To achieve the 10W of power, two lasers are combined into one for more power and stability with the double compression spot technology. 

With this base power improvement, both speeds for engraving and cutting have increased.

Comparatively, Atomstack notes that the engraving speed is up to 11000 mm/min versus a typical 3500 mm/min of a 5W laser. Similarly, cutting speed is noted as having increased by up to 40% compared to other models. To help with the performance and offline engraving, there's also a 32-bit motherboard on the X7 Pro.

For those trying to figure out spacing, the Atomstack X7 Pro takes up a moderate amount of desktop space. However, if you need to relocate it, its relatively lightweight aluminum alloy frame can be moved without much issue.

In terms of sizing, the X7 Pro measures out as approximately 25.9 x 22.1 x 10.4 inches (658 x 561 x 265 mm). But the actual working area of the X7 Pro is 410 x 400 mm.

Focus-Free Management for Your Laser Engraver

Atomstack X7 Pro laser focus

Beyond the laser power upgrade, a big draw of the Atomstack X7 Pro's laser is its ease of use. For the X7 Pro, the laser operates at a fixed focus. So you won't have to manually adjust the laser before focusing.

Once you're ready to cut and/or engrave a material, all you have to do is follow a quick set of steps. Place the included fixed focus piece, move the laser head above it, and loosen the Torx handle screw (adjustment knob) to lower the laser. After you tighten the handle screw, simply remove the fixed focus piece before getting started.

Built-In Safety on the Atomstack X7 Pro

Atomstack X7 pro buttons and cables

Atomstack has several built-in features to help improve your safety.

 There are limit switches installed on both the X-axis and Y-axis, so you can avoid collisions. 



At the control terminal, there's an emergency stop button, power button, and reset button all in easy reach. With the emergency stop button, once it’s pressed you’ll need to twist it to unlock it. If you can’t use the touch screen, it may have been accidentally pressed, so twist it if you run into this.

During live operation with the X7 Pro connected via a USB cable, I never felt any need for these buttons. If I noticed anything off, it was easy to just pause or stop the project via Lightburn. I found this method to be much smoother especially when testing a quick cut or initial engraving position.



However, if you’re doing any offline work with the touch screen, I did feel it was a more responsive stopping measure when using the controller. Especially if something occurs like the machine getting nudged on accident since it’s fairly light.

 Like most safety measures, they're all a useful addition for added protection; you'll need to find your most optimal mix.

There’s also a horizontal gyroscope installed, so work will stop immediately if the laser is tilted. 


Eye Protection with the Atomstack X7 ProAtomstack X7 Pro front laser panoramic glass filter

Since this is a laser, you need to have appropriate eye protection. The X7 Pro has a panoramic filter glass protective cover that filters out 97% of UV light. While I did watch from afar without glasses, I always used protective laser glasses when getting closer.

So for operation, I still would advise purchasing some OD5+ Laser Glasses for added protection—especially if you’re learning. There's always a variety of potential scenarios where this small filter barrier could fail, or the laser could possibly hit a reflective surface. Rather than risk any potential damage to yourself, it's a much cheaper protective investment.

Atomstack X7 Pro laser work in process

Now other things to keep in mind are what materials you’re working with. For testing, I worked primarily with plywood at different thickness levels but also bamboo and glass. 

None of these materials were high-concern materials; you have to keep in mind the base X7 Pro doesn’t have an exhaust system.

As such, you're still going to be dealing with smoke and other particles. So at the very least, there’s the potential for some respiratory irritation.

 If you happen to have an air purifier, running it will decrease any potential irritation and can vent out the majority of unpleasant odors.

Depending on how savvy you are, you can create your own exhaust system or purchase Atomstack’s B1 Enclosure for its built-in exhaust fan.

 For safer materials, you can also always go for a more budget extraction method like venting smoke out from a nearby open window via a box fan.

In most cases, there wasn’t any heavy smoke; I would work with a respirator just out of habit from doing so with 3D printing. Just keep in mind you’ll need to make some adjustments based on your own set-up and materials.

Choosing the Best Software for the Atomstack X7 Pro

Lightburn example screen

To control and generate files for the Atomstack X7 Pro, you can either use LaserGRBL or Lightburn.

 Laser GRBL is a free Windows option; you can access it via Mac or Linux via some workarounds. But beyond some initial tests and installation of the CH340 driver and its custom options, I opted to use Lightburn for its more robust option and easier-to-use interface for the rest of the testing period.



As another consideration, if you're comparing software options across different laser engravers, you'll notice the free software options tends to differ based on the company. However, Lightburn supports all printers that also use LaserGRBL, so if you're freshly learning keep this under consideration.

Atomstack X7 Pro’s Facebook group deals a lot with advice and initial set-up if you need some secondary help.

 In addition to this, Atomstack has provided some machine parameters (on the included SD card) for both software options.

Using the Atomstack X7 Pro Touchscreen Controller

Atomstack offline controller

If you're not keen on your laptop being bound to the X7 Pro, Atomstack has accounted for this.

 There’s a 3.5” HD touch-screen controller that’s attached magnetically to the front of the engraver. 

There are two things you can do with this: manage your offline engraving or set up your Wi-Fi connection.



If you’re going to work offline, you’ll need to save your work to the included SD card. While the Atomstack X7 Pro comes with its own SD card, you'll need to remove it from the included USB stick.



Once you’ve created your project and set your parameters, save the Gcode in Lightburn or quicksave from Laser GRBL to your SD card. 

Afterward, tap the carve button on the touchscreen controller to bring up your file list. From here, you can start organizing your offline job.

Atomstack X7 Pro offline controller

After setting your number of engraving or cutting passes, you can check your positioning and framing before starting the job. Once you start your job, you can then adjust your specific speed and power values during operation. You can further adjust these values in different percentage intervals and do so either during live operation or while paused.

The other option is to connect to the Wi-Fi. While the touch screen works fine for engraving and cutting management, it felt very tedious to punch in my Wi-Fi password on the smaller keyboard. Additionally, if I restarted the controller, it lost my Wi-Fi connection, so I’d have to re-enter this information all over again.



Once connected—I followed the user manual’s instructions by connecting to my IP address and installing the specified file to access the ESP3D interface. 




From there, however, I didn’t get the exact interface suggested in the manual. I could move the laser, enter commands, and access my SD card, but it wasn't framed like the interface of the controller itself. At present, the web options are still under development from Atomstack, so there's little reason to get involved here besides your own curiousity.

Engraving with the Atomstack X7 Pro

Atomstack X7 Pro large multi-layer engraving project

While Atomstack has done a lot to make the laser engraving process more inviting, what matters is the results. 

In terms of engraving, there’s a focus on speed and precise translation of intricate details. Since I wanted to test these areas, I focused on a few different projects—mostly capitalizing on wood as an inexpensive resource that you could source from either your own surplus, a craft store, or online.

To test the detail work, you might typically think about engraving a photograph. While it’s a good first measure, I wanted to also experiment with Adobe Illustrator in conjunction with Lightburn. Towards this end, I prepared several artwork files throughout the whole of testing.

In terms of single-pass jobs, I typically worked at 30% power and 1500 mm for its speed to really lavish results. Specifically, some of the more intricate cuts came out really beautifully with detailed engravings flavored by relief cuts. When working with 12" by 12" woodblocks, the longest and most intricate job took just shy of twelve hours.

Atomstack X7 Pro 40 and 20 percent power difference for small pieces

To contrast the larger engraving pieces, I also wanted to try working with some smaller pieces to test the translation of detail while figuring out the ideal power range. When attempting to engrave and cut some small crow figures, I first attempted to work at 40% power; the results ended up too dark. I ended up getting a much better finish when dropping the power down to 20% for the second attempt.

When working with bamboo with a mixed fill and line engraving style, I find the power ranges to work similarly. I found that 30% burnt-in one of the smaller details too hard; I could avoid this by dropping the power down to twenty-five percent. In both cases, an air assist would have helped the process; you can certainly work around it for smaller jobs.

For a better glass engraving, I opted to mask the glass with non-toxic black tempera paint. With this, I had better results when working with higher power levels.

Cutting with the Atomstack X7 Pro

Atomstack X7 Pro cutting with honeycomb accessory

The Atomstack X7 Pro boasts the capacity to cut 20 mm thick wood and 15 mm thick acrylic. With those numbers in mind, remember that diode lasers don’t cut that quickly. To properly cut, you need to go at a low speed and with high power.

However, this raises the chances of more smoke, particles, and potentially flames which can obstruct the process. At present, the X7 Pro doesn’t come with an air assist. Unless you purchase Atomstack's air assist separately or 3D print and put together your own air assist, you'll find those thicknesses impossible.

As a quick cutting test, I taped together four blocks of 2 mm plywood. For this, I cut small circles that I set to 5 passes, 7 passes, 8 passes, 10 passes, and 12 passes.

 After this relatively short test, I noticed that the Atomstack X7 Pro had almost cut to 6 mm of wood on the longer passes; it was definitely not near 8 mm.

In another test, I did cut higher; the scorching and flame potential was much higher than I felt comfortable with. If you’ve ever seen air-assist comparisons on cutting jobs, there's a clear difference in results. So if you're looking to maximize the power of the Atomstack X7 Pro, I would highly advise figuring out an air assist option for deeper cuts.

Atomstack X7 Pro cut examples

In general, I typically worked with cutting 2 to 3 mm plywood. 

And just as simple test measures, I cut some basic designs—a wooden spatula, small character pieces, arachnid models, and an engraved box. With appropriate values and wood thickness, you won't run into any issues getting precise enough cuts; you also need to keep the results clean. 



To keep the designs from really getting burnt, I worked at a lower power range; I did a few more passes. To further disperse heat, spacing potential parts out gives the laser time to cool down---even if it's just a small adjustment to the laser's travel path.

Should You Buy the Atomstack X7 Pro?

If you're after the best laser engraver to buy, the Atomstack X7 Pro offers a lot, especially at its price point. For comparison, the xTool D1 comes in at a more expensive price for similar specs; you don’t have access to things like offline engraving either.

But if you're after the safest laser engraver for home use, you'll need to make modifications towards that end.

Also, with the Atomstack X7 Pro, it’s relatively easy to upgrade towards your use case. For instance, if you want to capitalize on more engraving possibilities, you might opt to go with the rotary roller or the support extension. Comparatively, if you’re more interested in cutting you might consider the air assist more to help you along.



Ultimately, the X7 Pro offers a lot of safety options and ways to work with your machine, so if you’re looking to get started, give it a try.