I'm not a laser engineer. I run a small sign and gift shop, and for the last six years I've handled custom engraving orders the messy way—by making enough mistakes to fill a notebook. So far I've documented 14 significant errors. Together they cost me roughly $4,800 in wasted material, reruns, and embarrassed apologies. This is the story of how I bought an xTool S1, found out what it can and can't do, and built a checklist that stopped the bleeding.
If you're here because you typed can the xTool S1 cut acrylic into Google, I'll answer that soon. But the bigger lesson from my first year with this machine is about testing.
Why I Chose the xTool S1
Back in early 2024, I decided I needed a desktop engraving machine. My old setup was a shaky hand-me-down diode laser that nobody calibrated, and I was tired of outsourcing small acrylic signs and stone awards to a shop across town. The xTool S1 kept showing up in my searches because of the modular design. The idea of switching between 10W, 20W, and 40W modules felt like a way to future-proof the purchase. I also liked that the rotary attachment could sit on the same rails. So I ordered the 20W version with air assist.
Air assist turned out to be non-negotiable. Without it, acrylic smoke deposits on the surface and leaves brown streaks. With it, the difference is night and day. If you buy an S1 and skip air assist, you're making it work with one hand tied behind its back.
The first week was great. I engraved wooden signs, cut thin basswood, and even did a small batch of anodized aluminum keychains. Then I started pushing the machine, and that's when the invoice count started going up.
Can the xTool S1 Cut Acrylic?
Yes. That's the short answer. I've cut over 200 acrylic pieces on this machine, mostly 3mm and 5mm sheets for wedding signs, shelf displays, and small product labels. But the word acrylic is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Cast acrylic behaves differently from extruded acrylic. Clear cast acrylic cuts with a frosted edge. Black extruded acrylic cuts like a dream if you get the settings right. If you use the wrong speed and power, you'll get melted edges and a smell that stays in the shop for days. I ruined a $50 sheet of clear acrylic in my second week because I trusted a generic material profile from a video. The machine cut the shape, but the edges looked like a frozen lake after a snowstorm.
What did I learn? Test on a scrap piece first. Every time. Different colors absorb the diode beam differently, so a setting that works for red acrylic may not work for blue. That's not a flaw of the S1. It's just how diode lasers work.
The Stone Job That Almost Broke Me
A few months later, I took an order for 24 engraved granite coasters for a local real estate company. I was excited because I wanted to position the S1 as a stone engraving machine in my shop. I had tested it on a small slate tile and the result was clean and bright. I told the customer yes.
The day of the job, I set up the coaster, hit start, and watched the laser run. The first coaster looked okay until I cleaned off the dust. The engraving was faint. The second coaster was even worse. I stopped the machine and pulled up my test tile. Night and day.
Why? Polished granite reflects a lot of the beam. Slate absorbs it. Same machine, same power, completely different result. I had skipped the one step that would have saved me—testing on the exact material the customer provided.
I salvaged the order by running a test grid on a scrap coaster, finding a slower speed and higher power setting that produced a readable mark, and re-engraving all 24. It took an extra four hours. The customer never knew. But I knew. The invoice for that job was $1,150; the rework cost me most of the margin.
Can a 10W Laser Engrave Metal?
There's another search term that gets people in trouble: can a 10W laser engrave metal? The honest answer is yes, but only on certain metal surfaces.
I learned this on a rush order for 50 brushed stainless steel tags. I had the 10W module installed for a small job and decided to use it for the tags too. The first test on bare stainless steel did nothing. I mean, nothing. The beam just bounced off. I switched to a painted stainless steel blank from a trophy supplier, and the same machine engraved it easily—because it was removing a coating, not marking the metal itself.
According to xTool's official material guide (xtool.com, current as of January 2025), diode lasers are listed as compatible with anodized aluminum and coated metals. Bare shiny metal is not listed. If someone is searching for xTool S1 fiber laser, this is important: the S1 is a diode laser, not a fiber laser. Fiber lasers use a different wavelength and can mark bare steel and aluminum. The S1 can't. That's not a criticism of the S1. It's a reminder to match the machine to the job.
The Checklist That Saved Me
Every one of my 14 documented mistakes had the same root cause. I was in a hurry. I trusted a profile I had used on a similar material, or I assumed the machine would handle something new because it looked like the old thing. The fix wasn't a different laser. It was a checklist.
- Engrave a small test square with three different power and speed combos on a scrap piece of the exact material.
- For cutting, run a 30mm test line first, then check penetration and edge quality.
- Clean the piece the way the customer will clean it. If the engraving disappears, start over.
- Write the winning settings on the box with a Sharpie.
That fourth step sounds ridiculous, but it has saved me more than once. If I get the same material again, I don't have to re-test. I just read what's on the box. I keep a small card on each material bin with the S1 settings that worked last time.
Since I started this routine, I've caught 47 potential problems before they became orders. The cost of those problems would have been far more than the few hours I spend testing now. A 15-minute test is the cheapest insurance I own.
What I'd Tell Someone Buying an xTool S1
I'm not here to tell you the S1 is the only desktop engraving machine you should consider. To be fair, it gets expensive once you add the air assist, rotary bundle, and extra modules. And it's not a replacement for a CO2 laser or a fiber laser. If your main work is cutting thick wood or marking bare steel, this isn't the machine you need.
But for my shop, the S1 does three things well: it cuts acrylic, it engraves stone, and it marks coated metals. That's enough to pay for itself. The question isn't whether the machine can do everything. It's whether you're willing to test before you trust it.
This approach works for us because we run small batches and custom orders. If you're doing production work, you'll need a more formal process, maybe a spec sheet for every material or a shared laser library for your team. Your mileage may vary. The core lesson doesn't: five minutes of testing beats five days of redo.
There's something satisfying about watching a test grid come out right after you've dialed in the settings. It's not exciting. It's boring. That's the point. Boring means predictable, and predictable means the order ships on time.
