XTool Finds a Home

While I’m optimistic that the XTool is going to be fabulously useful, it also takes almost as much space as a third child. Although it is less than 24×24 inches, that is still almost .25 percent of our home’s floor space. I had to consider where it would live before I even pushed the “buy” button.

The XTool Support people weren’t keen about storing their product on end, and suggested I disassemble it when not in use. That would have resulted in it never being in use. Still, the “buy” button was just too tempting and I thought I would figure out storage in due course.

The main part of the tool is a machined aluminum frame, and it doesn’t seem like this could be harmed by standing on end. However, when it does stand on end, the gantry rests on a plastic limit switch, and I suppose the switch could eventually start to stick or fail. Perhaps that was why the Support people were against the idea.

My solution was to stow the gantry on a shelf. A piece of the original packaging also supports the laser itself, although it would be easy to simply remove it. A second shelf provides a location for the little air compressor that blows out any flames, as well as a box of tools and other bits that came with the tool. The whole mess hides behind the platform, which folds down on a piano hinge when the laser is deployed.

I feel XTool missed a trick by providing a little plastic box, which doesn’t even hold all the tools. They could have easily provided a pattern to cut a tool box out as your first project. Perhaps I will make that my first real project.