Most people buy the xTool RAZOR (a diode laser with a high-speed galvanometer head) and pair it with the tiny, $99 “Air Assist” pump. They assume it just blows smoke away.

You cannot use a standard garage compressor at 100+ PSI. The RAZOR’s galvo head has delicate mirrors. Exceed ~70 PSI, and you will physically blow the mirrors out of alignment or crack the lens. You need a regulator and a moisture trap (compressed air has water that ruins laser optics).

When you connect the RAZOR to a high-pressure shop air compressor (regulated to ~40-60 PSI), the laser transforms into a different machine. It stops burning wood and starts blasting it away like a miniature sandblaster.

The xTool RAZOR is good. The RAZOR with a real 40-60 PSI compressor is borderline industrial. It cuts what shouldn’t be cut (clear acrylic) and cleans what should be dirty (metal). The $99 pump is a bottleneck—the compressor is the unlock.