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Is Lumitool a Scam or Just Half-Baked? - Lumitool F28 Review (Lumitool F20 Successor)
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Jul 15, 2025
🛠️ Check out the Lumitool F28 Here: https://geni.us/LumitoolF28 Check out Cobey Schmidt's video here: https://youtu.be/EAs7HKEOxew?si=LRMlwSTnrkeMhkyw Looking for the best laser engraver in 2025? The Lumitool F28 claims to be a high-speed, high-power, all-in-one laser engraving machine with true 28W fiber laser capability, a 20W diode laser module, 0.001mm engraving precision, and a max speed of 12,000mm/s. Designed for engraving and cutting on materials like metal, wood, acrylic, leather, and more—this machine enters the market alongside competitors like the xTool F1, AtomStack M4, Ortur Laser Master 4, and the upcoming Bambu Lab laser module. In this deep-dive review, we break down what it’s actually like to use this dual-laser engraver in a real-world workflow. From laser setup, focus alignment, and software installation to material testing, safety concerns, fan noise, and software translation issues—everything is put to the test. Whether you’re looking for a portable desktop laser engraver for home use, a dual-laser engraver for flexible material types, or an alternative to CO2 laser cutters and CNC engravers, this review covers every detail that glossy ads won’t show you. We cover key topics like how to focus a fiber laser, using diode lasers for wood engraving, mobile app support for laser engravers, LightBurn compatibility issues, and how engraver speed claims hold up under real use. If you’ve searched for terms like best fiber laser engraver 2025, fastest laser engraver for hobbyists, metal laser cutting machine for small business, or how to engrave wood and stainless steel with a diode laser—this is for you. From hardware quality to software reliability, from engraving results to user experience—this isn’t just a look at what the Lumitool F28 promises. It’s a real, independent review of what it actually delivers. 🎧 Hear more hobby rambling on @thepaintingphase 🎯 Photonsters XP Range Finder – https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6023738 ▶️ Watch Setup Guide – https://youtu.be/Gm0-z971tgY 🧼 Printer Cleaning Mat – https://geni.us/3DPrinterCleaningMat 🎨 Artis Opus FauxHammer Essentials Set – https://store.artis-opus.com/products/fauxhammer-mixed-brush-set-5-brush-deluxe 🖌️ Best Airbrushes – https://www.fauxhammer.com/top-10/best-airbrushes-for-miniatures-wargames-models/ 💨 Beginner Airbrush Guide – https://www.fauxhammer.com/featured/best-beginner-airbrush-for-miniatures/
View Video Transcript
0:00
Right. So, yeah, this isn't a 3D
0:02
printer. I know. I'm just as confused as
0:04
you are. Actually, I bet I'm more
0:06
confused. Now, I've had some ideas
0:09
lately, laser ideas, potentially
0:11
dangerous ones. And there's another
0:12
reason I wanted to get into this, but
0:14
I'll come back to that in a moment. When
0:16
Lumi Tool reached out and initially
0:18
said, "We want to send you two of our
0:19
laser machines." I thought, "Wow, yeah.
0:21
All right. How hard can lasering be?"
0:23
especially when this is supposed to be
0:25
one of the fastest, most easy to use,
0:27
most precise laser engravers on the
0:29
market. Well, what I got was something
0:32
else entirely. And even though what I
0:34
got was a $2,000 plus freebie, I still
0:38
can't help but feel like I got scammed.
0:42
Hi, I'm Ross. This is Fammer Videos.
0:45
Now, obviously to my usual audience, I
0:47
don't normally cover laser engravers. I
0:49
do 3D printers, but I've had some ideas
0:51
I really want to try out. And if I'm
0:52
completely honest, I'm kind of hoping
0:54
lasers will help me black my way into
0:56
reviewing the shiny new bamboo H2D laser
0:59
version at some point. And if you're new
1:01
here, I need to be 100% clear up front.
1:03
I don't review stuff by reading off the
1:06
spec sheet and nodding along like it's a
1:08
PowerPoint presentation. I want to show
1:10
you what different maker products are
1:12
actually like to use. So, let's get
1:14
stuck in. Looney Tunes initially emailed
1:16
me offering both the F-20 and F-28 for
1:19
review. And I replied with something
1:21
along the lines of two free laser
1:22
engravers. yeah. Okay. How do I not
1:25
come across as desperate? So I said,
1:27
"Uh, yes, please. I will have two laser
1:29
engravers. Thank you." But then it was
1:31
suddenly, "Oh, we need to check with our
1:33
manager before we can send anything."
1:35
Right? So look, why make the offer in
1:37
the first place? Maybe they jumped the
1:39
gun a bit there. And I'll check my
1:40
YouTuber privilege right here and say,
1:42
"Yeah, getting offered anything at all,
1:45
especially for free, is already more
1:47
than fair. It's just that why reach out
1:50
if that's not already an agreed thing."
1:52
Anyway, a bit of back and forth later,
1:54
and they said, "Yeah, we'd like to send
1:56
you the new F28, the newer, shinier,
1:58
more expensive one." And that is
2:00
fantastic, right? A free $2,000 plus
2:03
laser engraver. Now, in hindsight,
2:05
getting just one might have actually
2:08
been a mercy, just not as much of a
2:10
mercy as them not sending me either. So,
2:13
two parcels were sent out on April 28th.
2:16
One tracking number didn't work, and
2:17
there was weeks of ignorance when I
2:19
asked for clarity so I could track them
2:21
both. And then on June 15th, everything
2:24
showed up. And it's worth pointing out
2:25
that this is from a company that claims
2:27
a 7 to 15 day delivery time. Mine took
2:30
48. Now, maybe because this was a
2:33
freebie, they went with the Slowboat to
2:35
save a bit of cash. That's fair enough.
2:37
I know. Again, I'm lucky to get a
2:40
machine like this for free. So, yeah,
2:41
another little privilege check, but
2:43
these quirks and clumsy moments in the
2:45
journey do matter. And there's more
2:47
coming because if you stack them all up,
2:49
this is where it starts to feel a lot
2:51
like a scam. And besides, back when this
2:53
did show up, I was still super excited.
2:56
Genuinely, this one even skipped all of
2:59
the review cue because I wanted to get
3:01
it straight onto my bench. Now, taking
3:03
it out of its nicely branded box, it
3:05
immediately looks solid. Machined
3:07
aluminium, clean finish, this felt like
3:09
a proper bit of kit. Compared to some of
3:12
the plasticky toy-like printers I'm used
3:13
to, and it felt like that right up until
3:16
I came to use it. Now, the standout
3:18
specs used to make this sound impressive
3:20
include a 28W true fiber laser. And
3:23
based on the only proper review I've
3:25
seen, it apparently is the real deal,
3:27
not just a rebranded infrared diode. And
3:29
alongside that, there's also a 20 W blue
3:31
diode laser, which, if I'm getting this
3:33
right, isn't just for show. It's meant
3:35
to handle materials the fiber laser
3:37
can't, like wood. Basically, it gives
3:40
this machine more flexibility. And they
3:42
also boast a 12,000 mm a second
3:45
engraving speeds and a claimed precision
3:47
of 0.001
3:50
mm. That's one micron. Now, the website
3:54
name drops LightBurn 2, but if you read
3:56
carefully, that's only mentioned for the
3:58
F20. And even then, it's not actually
4:01
supported yet. According to them,
4:03
they're working on it. So, for software,
4:05
it offers iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac
4:08
apps. So, you've got something that
4:10
sounds on paper like an intuitive
4:12
multimaterial engraving speed demon.
4:15
Now, whether any of that's actually
4:16
true, well, that's kind of the whole
4:18
point of the rest of the video, isn't
4:20
it? So, with all those shiny specs
4:22
rattling around in my head, I fired it
4:24
up and I immediately hit a wall. There
4:26
was an instruction manual in the box,
4:28
but calling it that is beyond generous.
4:30
It's basically a multi-page pamphlet
4:32
that doesn't explain what any of the
4:34
options actually do or what the hardware
4:35
is. Instead, the captions literally
4:38
describe what you can already see in the
4:40
pictures beside them, which I guess is
4:42
handy if you've managed to somehow make
4:45
it this far in owning a laser machine
4:48
without having working eyes that
4:51
suddenly do work. Honestly, these are so
4:54
bad. It's like slapping an unlabeled
4:56
graph in front of someone with the
4:57
caption, "This is a graph."
5:00
There's no setup guide, no this part is
5:02
this, no wiring instructions, no
5:04
assembly instructions, no software
5:06
walkthrough. This is useless paper. So,
5:09
we go straight to the website and this
5:11
isn't much better. Uh there are no clear
5:13
links from the homepage to any kind of
5:15
setup guides unless you count their blog
5:17
page which when you go and actually
5:19
interrogate it, it's just a hole of
5:21
beyond highlevel AI generated articles
5:24
using laser projects with zero relevance
5:27
to their own products. I actually had to
5:30
go and find the guides through Google
5:32
and even then what I landed on was a
5:34
complete mess. No structure, terrible
5:36
layout and the videos I I I just can't
5:39
even seriously go and watch them.
5:41
They're like telling someone who's never
5:42
seen a car, step one, drive the car. And
5:46
then we get on to using the software.
5:48
And somehow this is even worse. Now,
5:51
there is an iOS app, but existence is
5:53
its greatest achievement. I wouldn't
5:55
even call it a beta. Sure, a bit more
5:57
than half the UI is translated, but what
6:00
is translated is barely coherent.
6:02
Honestly, download it and have a look.
6:04
This is an absolute embarrassment. And
6:06
when it comes to the desktop version,
6:08
well, once you dodge all the Windows
6:10
security warnings, you'd be forgiven for
6:12
thinking you'd installed malware until
6:13
you stumble across the button to switch
6:15
it to English. Then you realize that
6:17
what you've got is just a Chinese
6:19
Android emulator running the same
6:21
halfbaked mobile app. Okay, fair enough.
6:24
The Android version does have a few more
6:25
features than its iOS counterpart. And
6:28
apparently there was a separate pro
6:30
version of the app at one point, but
6:32
that's now been pulled from the Play
6:33
Store, and I've got no idea where to
6:35
find it because the brand haven't
6:37
published it. Now, at this point, I
6:39
hadn't quite reached out of my depth,
6:41
but I was rapidly running out of
6:43
patience. But hey, the machine did turn
6:46
on, so progress. Yeah. Well, after
6:49
several failed attempts to guess the
6:51
setup process, I eventually stumbled
6:53
across a buried video that half
6:54
explained how to prepare it for
6:56
engraving. And basically, you're
6:58
supposed to marry up the two red dots by
7:00
raising and lowering the head. That's
7:02
easy enough, except out of the box, my
7:05
dots wouldn't line up. One just passed
7:07
under the other entirely. So, I went to
7:10
the support part of the website and I
7:12
reached out to Lumi Tool, which takes
7:14
you to a chat via WhatsApp, and their
7:16
advice after explaining all of this,
7:18
marry up the dots. Yeah, thanks guys.
7:21
Incredibly helpful. So, after a bit more
7:24
time of learning, a day or two, it turns
7:26
out you can move the secondary guidance
7:29
laser, just not easily. I tried twisting
7:31
it, pushing it, and even disassembling
7:33
half the machine just to see if I could
7:35
loosen it, and nothing. What they
7:37
suggested was using a tool, which isn't
7:40
included in the box, of course, to
7:42
manually rotate it. And I did, and after
7:44
a lot of fiddling, I got the dots lined
7:46
up, but then nothing would engrave. Now,
7:49
this is the point where I need to
7:50
mention for those of you experienced in
7:52
laser printing, I know I'm coming across
7:54
like a winging baby. So, this is where I
7:57
want to reiterate that I am brand new to
8:00
lasers. I review tech, sure, but I'm a
8:03
complete beginner in this specific
8:05
field. And I know I am probably being
8:07
stupid. I've got a lot to learn. And
8:09
yes, if you've used a laser before,
8:11
you're smarter than me, obviously. But
8:13
please, I'm all I'm asking you to do is
8:15
treat me with the respect you'd offer
8:17
anyone just starting out in this hobby
8:19
because that's the perspective I'm
8:21
reviewing this product from. And if I've
8:24
made mistakes, I'll pin corrections in
8:25
the video description. I'm not here to
8:28
be unfair, just honest about my
8:30
experience. So, as it turns out, and I
8:33
learned, aligning the dots doesn't
8:35
actually do squat unless you've already
8:37
focused the laser. And yeah, in
8:39
hindsight, that is pretty damn obvious.
8:41
But how do you actually focus the laser
8:43
on this machine? Well, turns out you
8:46
guess. Step one is enable repeat mode,
8:50
so the machine keeps trying to engrave.
8:52
Step two, raise or lower the head using
8:54
the buttons until the beam looks the
8:57
brightest or sounds the loudest because
9:00
obviously nothing says precision
9:02
equipment like eyeballing it. But once
9:05
you've guessed it's dialed in, then you
9:08
line up your red dots. Now again, maybe
9:10
I missed something, but if I did, I've
9:11
missed a lot of things over the course
9:13
of two days, but I just don't think I
9:16
should have to dig through obscure
9:18
YouTube clips, forum comments, and
9:20
broken English WhatsApp messages just to
9:22
get its most basic feature working. And
9:25
I'm probably still a mile off accurate.
9:27
Surely, there should be a calibration
9:30
process, a test card, anything. No,
9:33
seriously, that's a question. Tell me.
9:35
I've seen some indication online of how
9:37
you can do different accuracy tests, but
9:40
no idea how to get that working with
9:42
this thing, but after all the mcking
9:44
about, I did manage to get the laser
9:46
focused enough to make Bernie things.
9:49
Then I got the dots aligned, and I was
9:51
more eager than ever to actually engrave
9:53
something. Just before we move on,
9:56
here's a kicker. This machine has two
9:58
lasers as I mentioned, a red fiber laser
10:00
and a blue diode laser meant for
10:01
materials the red can't handle and vice
10:04
versa. The problem is they don't share
10:06
the same focus length. So that guidance
10:08
laser we just spent ages aligning, yeah,
10:11
it's only lined up properly for one of
10:13
the two lasers. So every time you're
10:15
switching between red and blue, you're
10:17
basically guessing where the laser is
10:19
focused again, aligned or not. And
10:22
before we go on to the engraving results
10:24
and the conclusion or lack thereof,
10:26
let's talk about the device itself.
10:28
First up, it's loud. And not only is it
10:30
loud, but the fan runs constantly
10:33
whenever the unit's powered on. There's
10:35
no quiet or idle mode. So even when it's
10:37
just sat there idling and not doing any
10:39
engraving, it does sound like a small
10:42
jet engine warming up. And before I got
10:44
it, I was expecting a green safety cover
10:46
like the F20 has. But no, Lumi Tool have
10:49
actually told me that that cover is
10:51
exclusive to the F-20. The F-28 uses
10:54
this big clunky orange box instead. Now,
10:56
two things about that. One, why is it a
10:59
recommended accessory for the F28 on
11:01
their website? Just an update to this,
11:02
they've now actually removed it from the
11:04
website. And two, if the orange box is
11:07
the safety cover, why doesn't it come as
11:09
standard? Especially when their site
11:11
boasts about safe operations being their
11:13
foremost concern. And if there is no
11:16
green cover, what's the point of the
11:18
stand that you get in the box with it?
11:20
If you're never going to use this
11:22
motorized stand because there is no
11:24
safety cover that goes with it, what
11:26
what's what's the point in the stand?
11:29
Why why not just ship the F28 and the
11:31
orange box in the same Yeah, this all
11:34
sounds like total bollocks to me. Now,
11:36
this orange box, it connects to the F28
11:39
using Ethernet and USB, but here's the
11:42
crappy bit. The USB powers a fan that
11:45
runs inside this orange box. And that
11:48
runs nonstop when the F28 is plugged in,
11:51
regardless of whether the laser unit is
11:53
switched on or off. So, as long as the
11:55
USB is plugged in, that fan is spinning
11:57
its guts out. And the actual internal
12:00
base, as in the thing you sit the stuff
12:02
on to be lasered, is flimsy as hell. It
12:06
wobbles and tilts like the mechanism
12:08
must have come from a cheap caravan
12:10
window. What this means is your
12:11
workpiece isn't sitting flat and
12:13
parallel to the laser, which is a
12:16
massive problem for precise engraving,
12:18
as you're about to see. So, armed with a
12:20
rough focus and a design loaded up, I
12:23
hit go and let the machine do its thing.
12:25
The laser fired up, the material
12:26
crackled, and yeah, I noticed a slant in
12:29
the engraving surface right away. That
12:31
tilt on the base showed up in every
12:33
single pass. One side of my engraving
12:36
was clearly deeper and darker, the other
12:38
side barely there. So, I just stuck with
12:41
using the flat base and no safety shield
12:43
other than the safety glasses they
12:45
provide. And I need to say lasers are no
12:48
joke. Yeah, fumes and all that, but
12:50
honestly, just accidentally catching an
12:52
unprotected glance of that blue light
12:54
reflection off wood while filming was
12:56
enough to leave a blue blur in my vision
12:58
for a good minute or two. This was an
13:00
accident. Yeah, it was a stupid
13:02
accident. Accidents happen. They happen
13:04
to me. I'd rather say it and point it
13:07
out than risk it happening to you. This
13:09
isn't the sort of device you take a risk
13:11
with. So, it would be incredibly helpful
13:13
if one or the other safety shield came
13:15
as a standard accessory. But anyway, the
13:17
long and short of it is the quality of
13:19
this machine is far from what I
13:20
anticipated from something with these
13:22
specs or this price tag. But I imagine a
13:25
lot of that does come down to me having
13:28
no clue how to dial it in. And I don't
13:31
think that's all on me. I tried. I tried
13:34
really hard. And when using the blue
13:36
light, all I got went from no markings
13:38
on wood to just burning holes in the
13:41
surface. And this was with the pre-built
13:43
profiles in the app. Now, I've since
13:45
learned, yeah, you need things like
13:46
airflow. And I understand lasering isn't
13:49
plugandplay like printing has become.
13:51
There are things to learn. But across
13:54
the two lasers, I did dozens of tests. I
13:57
was just completely lost between bad
13:59
results and not knowing if that was due
14:00
to poor focus, bad settings, bad
14:04
hardware, or me. And this is where I
14:06
reached out to the brand and told
14:07
Lumiol, I said, "This could be great
14:09
hardware, but you're not explaining to
14:11
anyone how to use it or how to even get
14:13
started with it." And after a bit of
14:16
back and forth, they kind of panicked
14:17
and said, "Oh, give us a week to update
14:19
the website." Here we are two weeks
14:22
later and they've they've done all. All
14:25
I'm asking for is that they have a clear
14:28
here's the support section and then a
14:30
user guide. Step one, how to get the
14:32
software. Step two, how to set up your
14:35
hardware. Step three, how to dial in the
14:37
focal range. Step four, crack on and
14:40
learn from there from this, that, or the
14:43
other resource. And considering they've
14:45
got the time to generate all of these
14:47
AI articles, then I question
14:50
why they've prioritized that over actual
14:54
useful user guides or fully developed
14:57
software for their own products. And as
15:00
for the speed they mention, I'm just
15:01
going to defer to Kobe Schmidt's video
15:03
where he runs through the speed claims
15:05
and points out some, I would say,
15:07
serious discrepancies along with the
15:09
inference that the brand uses time-lapse
15:11
photography to visually inflate the
15:13
speeds. Kind of like those old Steven
15:15
Seagal movies where they just sped up
15:16
the fight scenes and hope you didn't
15:18
notice. I guess much like modern
15:20
printers, this may be a 10 times faster
15:22
device than other hobby laser engravers,
15:25
but I also expect those comparable
15:26
engravers are probably a few years old
15:28
by now. All in all, I have to say as a
15:32
beginner, I ended up with a device that
15:34
certainly exceeded my expectations based
15:36
on the advertising. It just exceeded
15:39
them in completely the wrong direction.
15:41
Now, before wrapping up, it's worth
15:43
noting why all this adds up to making
15:45
the whole thing look a bit like a scam.
15:47
It's the unprofessional communication,
15:49
the lack of community updates, lack of
15:51
support. Facebook group is all but a
15:53
ghost town, excessive short form
15:55
advertising, disjointed software that
15:57
reports as security threats when you
15:59
install it, apps pulled down by the Play
16:02
Store or App Store, unresponsive
16:04
support, and completely misleading
16:06
marketing and AI generated articles that
16:08
are probably just there to be filled
16:10
with keywords that drive your attention
16:12
to laser engraving product. If you add
16:15
all those pieces together, yeah, I think
16:18
it becomes easy to see why I'm quite
16:19
skeptical. So, here's the deal. I
16:21
honestly don't know if this is a good
16:23
product or not. If you have one and
16:24
you're using it, brilliant. Pop it in
16:26
the comments. You tell us. But I'm going
16:29
to say not. I can't properly tell cuz I
16:32
can't get it working. And I'll
16:34
confidently say I pushed it way beyond
16:36
what I'd consider reasonable. When I
16:38
shared my honest thoughts with Lumi
16:40
Tool, they actually asked me not to make
16:42
this video, saying, "We didn't expect
16:44
this kind of feedback, which is a bit
16:46
rich considering their first email to me
16:48
said they watch my content and like my
16:50
attention to detail." So, how could they
16:53
not expect this? They didn't even need
16:55
my thoughts. They could have just
16:57
listened to any of their Kickstarter
16:58
backers comments. And look, when I calm
17:01
down and put my objective head on, I I
17:04
don't think this is a scam. It's a real
17:06
product and a few people have them from
17:08
what I understand. And I feel bad making
17:11
a negative video about a startup. This
17:14
kind of thing can affect people's
17:15
livelihoods and stall development
17:18
further for those people who backed it.
17:20
But also, come on, Lumiol. It's been a
17:23
year, guys. I honestly think the
17:25
situation is this is just a very
17:27
immature company with a CEO who's
17:29
probably obsessed with tech specs and
17:31
hoping marketing is going to cover the
17:33
rest. But development, support, and
17:36
service matter far more than they
17:38
currently realize because without focus
17:40
there, all I can realistically do is
17:42
wish them luck. So, for now, I'm just
17:45
going to put this back in the box. I'll
17:46
revisit it in a few months if they get
17:48
their act together and actually face
17:50
their problems. But honestly, in my
17:52
opinion, they shouldn't even be
17:54
considering releasing new machines like
17:56
this F28 until they finish fixing the
17:58
F20, the last one. Scratch that. just
18:01
get it so iting works. So, despite my
18:05
usual approach to reviews, maybe this is
18:08
a device where the specs matter more
18:10
than the usability to some people. If
18:12
you bought it for its specs and you love
18:14
it and you're watching, hey, I hope all
18:17
six of you enjoy it. Seriously though,
18:20
and that was just a joke. Seriously, if
18:23
you do, please, please tell me how to
18:26
actually use the damn thing. I want to
18:28
say thanks for watching with a huge
18:29
thanks going to our members whose names
18:31
are on screen now. They get Discord
18:33
rolls, early access, all of that stuff.
18:35
You've heard me talking too long. Until
18:38
next time. Wait a minute. This is the
18:40
future. Where are all the phaser guns?
18:43
Faux hammer out.
18:48
[Music]