The xTool S1 Won't Do Everything. That's Exactly Why I Still Recommend It.

Here's the opinion I've earned the hard way: the xTool S1 is at its best when you stop expecting it to be a machine it isn't.

I've run a small engraving side business out of my workshop for three years. In that time, I made and documented 22 significant mistakes, totaling roughly $1,400 in wasted material and redo work. The worst one was a 40-piece order of acrylic awards—the pieces looked fine on the surface, but every single one cracked along the edges by the time the client unboxed the first batch. $380 down the drain, plus a phone call I still wince thinking about.

Every one of those mistakes traced back to the same root cause: I asked a diode laser to behave like something it isn't. The xTool S1 is not a CO₂ system. It's not a fiber laser. It's a diode laser with clear boundaries. Once you respect those boundaries, it's one of the most useful tools I own.

What Is a Laser Engraver? Start With the Boundaries, Not the Buzzwords

Let's go back to the basic question, because I skipped it and paid for it: what is a laser engraver? A laser engraver is a CNC-controlled machine that uses a focused beam of light to mark or remove material. But that definition hides the detail that actually matters. Laser types run at different wavelengths, and wavelength decides what the beam will and won't touch.

• Diode lasers (blue-violet around 405nm, or 1064nm with infrared modules): compact, affordable, great for wood, leather, acrylic, stone—and metal marking with the right module.
• CO₂ lasers (10,600nm infrared): the classic workhorse for cutting acrylic and engraving glass, with a bigger footprint and heavier ventilation needs.
• Fiber lasers (1064nm): metal engraving specialists that are useless for wood and acrylic.

According to xTool's official product page (xtool.com, as of January 2025), the S1 is a diode platform that takes interchangeable 10W, 20W, and 40W diode modules plus a 1064nm infrared module. That modular design is its identity. I didn't understand any of this back in 2022. I watched demo videos of lasers cutting materials, assumed "laser" was one universal magic stick, and ordered mine without asking where a diode laser ends and a CO₂ laser begins.

xTool S1 Acrylic Cutting Settings: The Material Is the Secret, Not the Numbers

Search "xtool s1 acrylic cutting settings" and you'll find forums, YouTube clips, and community spreadsheets full of numbers. I used them all and still ruined the biggest order of my first year. The settings weren't wrong on their own—they were wrong for my material.

Acrylic is two different materials pretending to have one name:

• Cast acrylic engraves a beautiful frosted white and cuts with cleaner edges, but it micro-cracks if you push speed or power too hard.
• Extruded acrylic cuts more predictably for a diode, but the edges come out cloudy—not the flame-polished edge a CO₂ machine gives you.

My starting point on the 20W module, for what it's worth: 3mm cast acrylic at 8mm/s, 80% power, two passes. 3mm extruded at 10mm/s, 80% power, one pass if the sheet is good, two if it isn't. If you don't have air assist, get it before you cut acrylic—the haze it blows off the cut line will end up on your lens otherwise.

Here's the boundary that matters: the S1 cuts thin and medium acrylic well, but it's not a production acrylic cutter. Push it past its comfortable depth—thick cast sheets, heavy daily volume—and you're in stress-crack and melted-edge territory that no settings spreadsheet can save. That's not a flaw. It's the machine telling you where its lane ends.

Engraving Plexiglass: A Brand Name That Nearly Cost Me an Order

Quick clarification that would've saved me a lot of grief: plexiglass is a brand name. Plexiglas® (yes, the ® matters) was trademarked back in the 1930s by Röhm & Haas, and over the decades it became the generic word for acrylic sheet, the way Kleenex became the generic word for tissues. When a client says "engrave plexiglass," they almost always mean acrylic—which the xTool S1 does beautifully.

But "almost always" is where the pitfall lives. In September 2023, a client handed me a sheet of "plexiglass" for a memorial plaque. I assumed cast acrylic. It was polycarbonate. A diode laser absolutely mangles polycarbonate: the beam absorbs poorly, the surface turns yellow and bubbly, and the fumes are not something you want in your lungs without serious ventilation. $120 of their material ruined, plus another $120 for real acrylic to redo the job.

If you're searching "engraving plexiglass" because you have a real sheet of acrylic in front of you: good news. Cast acrylic engraves that clean, frosty-white contrast on the S1, and it's one of the best-looking outputs this machine produces. Just verify the sheet isn't polycarbonate beforehand (acrylic scratches fairly easily; polycarbonate resists scratching), run your exhaust, and test a small grid before the main job.

The 1064nm Infrared Laser Module: I Second-Guessed It. Then It Paid for Itself.

I went back and forth on the xtool s1 1064nm infrared laser module for two weeks. On paper, it felt like an expensive niche toy (which, honestly, is what I called it in a group chat). I already had a 20W blue-diode module. Why would I need an IR module that only does metal marking?

Then came the requests: stainless steel tumblers, titanium dog tags, small aluminum signs. A blue diode won't touch bare metal. The 1064nm IR module marks it with a permanent, high-contrast etch that looks professional enough to sell. I finally ordered it after a corporate client asked for 20 engraved tumblers. Even after hitting "confirm," I kept second-guessing. What if the contrast was weak? What if it was slower than the demo videos? I didn't relax until the first batch came out clean—and that single order paid for the module.

Know the boundary before you buy: this module is an engraving tool, not a cutting tool. It won't cut through metal sheet. It's not a fiber laser, and it doesn't pretend to be one. It exists to put permanent marks on metal surfaces. Respect that, and it's a revenue generator. Buy it expecting a metal-cutting miracle, and you'll write one of those angry reviews that only ever appear on machines that were never the problem.

Do You Need a Large Engraving Machine? Maybe Not

This is the part where I'm supposed to tell you to buy the biggest machine you can afford. I won't.

I almost bought a large engraving machine in early 2024. I spent a week comparing big-format CO₂ units, measuring floor space I don't have, and pricing ventilation systems that would've made my neighbors worry. What stopped me was watching another small-shop owner deal with his: bigger footprint, higher power draw, more maintenance, and a price tag that needs a lot of orders to justify.

A large engraving machine doesn't remove boundaries—it gives you a more expensive set of them. Most of what I actually produce—plaques, awards, tumblers, signs, leather goods—fits on the S1's work area without drama. I have mixed feelings about the "bigger is better" instinct. Part of me wants a four-foot bed just for flexibility. Another part knows those oversized jobs are maybe 5% of my workflow, and the S1 handles the other 95% without taking over my workshop.

The real question isn't "how big is the engraving machine?" It's "what will I be making every week?" If you fabricate large acrylic display cases all day, get a large-format CO₂ machine and don't look back. If you mark and engrave a range of materials, a specialist with known limits beats a generalist who overpromises every time.

I Respect the xTool S1's Limits—That's Why I Recommend It

A tool that knows its boundaries is not a limited tool. It's a precise one.

I've made peace with what the xTool S1 can't do. I've also made real money with what it can. It's an honest machine: a multi-material diode engraver with interchangeable modules, excellent for a wide range of small and medium jobs, and not a substitute for industrial CO₂ or fiber systems. The marketing people who sell it as "does everything" do the machine a disservice. (Surprise, surprise—marketing overpromises.)

My advice after two years and $1,400 in lessons: read the boundaries before you buy it, not after. Use the right settings for the right acrylic, verify your "plexiglass" is actually acrylic, understand that the IR module marks metal but doesn't cut it, and don't assume a larger machine is automatically a better one. Do that, and the xTool S1 is one of the most capable tools in your workshop. I've already paid for this education—you don't have to.