In this xTool tutorial we are going to take you through setting up and using the xTool F1 Slide Extension, and we will show you everything you need to know on how to get this awesome accessory up and running.
So let’s take a quick look at what you get in the box:
- manual
- 5 clamps
- cable
- screwdriver
- ruler
Here is the link if would like to buy the portable cutting and engraving machine.

SETUP
Now, it’s time to set it all up.
As you can see, underneath the slide extension are some grooves and these fit perfectly over the base of the machine.

So you just pop it on top of the base of the .

Take your cable and plug one end into the back of the slide extension and one into the side of your F1 machine.

It should look like this.

Turn on your xTool F1.

HOW TO CALIBRATE THE SLIDE EXTENSION
The next step requires the xTool Creative Space software. So if you haven’t already installed it, head over to the xTool website and download it here.
In the Creative Space software, you need to connect your machine so click on the Connect Device option and then when your machine appears just select it and it should now be connected.

Next, we want to calibrate the slide extension so we start by clicking LASER EXTENSION from the drop-down on the right hand panel.

You can see the grid has now changed size and we also get a blue pop-up at the top of the screen. And at this point, we just click GO.

When you have done that, this popup appears, so let’s go through the steps.

STEP 1
As you can see for Step 1, there are actually a lot of sub-steps. It sounds like a lot but if we break it up into smaller steps it’s pretty quick and simple to do.
So you can see that the first sub-step is to “align the right edge of the movable ruler with scale zero of the slide extension”.

So grab the ruler that came in the box, and slide it onto the slide extension until it lines it up with the zero mark.

Once you have it aligned, tighten the screw to hold it in place.

The next sub-step is to “Align the vertical line on the side of the slide extension with the edge of the removable baseplate of xTool F1, and align the side of the slide extension with the second line”.

That’s a lot of words but basically it means to line up the slide extension with the second line on the base of the machine and you can see those lines there.

So just pull the slider forward so that it lines up with those lines.

It should look like this when you are done.

Now if we take a look back in Creative Space, we can see that the next part of step 1 says to “Move the ruler to the working area. Turn the knob to set the laser focus”.
To move the ruler to the working area, move the slide extension to the right until you see the red and blue laser dots appear over the ruler.

Turn the focus wheel on the side of the machine until the red and the blue laser dots merge with each other.

This is what that should look like once merged but watch the video above if you want to see it in action.

Now back in the software, you just need to click NEXT.

STEP 2
In the software, you will notice that we are now on Step 2.
For this step, we need to tighten the left and right screws but only lightly.

So you should be able to see the left hand side screw so just go ahead and loosely tighten that.

Then slide the slide extension all the way to the right.

Now you will see the right-hand screw which you can also loosely tighten.

Back in the software, you can click NEXT and when you do this, the machine automatically moves on its own to the right. So make sure everything is out of the way at this point.
When it stops, a blue laser line appears along the white line on the ruler.

STEP 3
If we come back to the software, we can see that it has taken us to Step 3 and it wants us to manually move the slide extension to align it with that blue line.

Just nudge the slider from side to side to get it to line up properly, (just watch the video above to see this part in action). Just take your time with this because it’s important that it is lined up correctly.

Once you have it all aligned the software then tells us that we need to tighten the left screw.

You should be able to see that screw so just tighten it up.

Once you have done that, come back into the software and click NEXT and the slide extension will automatically move to the left.

STEP 4
Back in the software we have jumped to Step 4 and it tells us to tighten the right screw which we can do now since the slide extension moved to the left.

So go ahead and tighten it.

Once that is done, you can click COMPLETE.

And now, the calibration is complete and now it’s time to start having some fun!

We absolutely love the engraving and cutting machine and the slider extension add-on gives the machine a whole lot more functionality.
These are the best how-to instructions I have used. Very detailed and thorough. Thank you!
That’s so good to hear Marie. Glad we could help.
Not for me. I think I got an old model with issues as it does not have the lines on the base of the model to align the slide extender. And I notice I had a slight crack on top of the unit. I would also get items I scanned to not be consistent. I burnt 4 items same wood same settings and 2 of the 4 looked bad and different from the other burns.
If there are no lines then it looks as if you do have an earlier version. We received ours this year and it looks like they have added some improvements. We have had nothing but excellent results with both the laser and the slider.
Thank you for your clear instructions. I followed them and it worked perfectly. Now I’ve come to use the extension a second time, do I have to calibrate again? I have changed the processing mode once more to “Use Slide Extension”, but it does not give me the option to calibrate again?
Technically you shouldn’t need to calibrate every time you use it, providing the slide extension is still attached. However, having said that, we hadn’t used ours for a time and we had moved it around a number of times (space issue) so we felt it was best to calibrate it before starting our recent projects.
I’m not sure why it’s not giving you the option to calibrate again, you may need to contact xTool on that one.