- Questions this guide answers
- Is the xTool S1 worth it as a small CNC laser cutting machine?
- Should you start with the xTool S1 20 watt or go straight to the 40W?
- xTool S1 metal engraving: what it can and can't do
- Are laser engraving training courses worth paying for?
- How to laser cut clear acrylic without melting the edges
- What hidden costs should you budget for with an xTool S1?
- When is the xTool S1 the wrong machine for your business?
I'm the procurement manager at a 42-person custom signage and promotional products company. I've managed our equipment budget (roughly $85,000 annually) for six years, negotiated with 25+ vendors, and documented every order in our cost tracking system. When we brought in an xTool S1 in Q3 2024, I did what I always do: tracked the full cost of ownership, tested materials for a month, and wrote down what I wish someone had told me before we signed off.
To be clear about my lane: I'm not a laser engineer, so I can't speak to beam optics or photonics. What I can give you is a procurement perspective — what this machine actually costs, where it struggles, and which expenses take people by surprise. If you're comparing a small CNC laser cutting machine for your shop, these are the questions that matter.
Questions this guide answers
- Is the xTool S1 worth it as a small CNC laser cutting machine?
- Should you start with the xTool S1 20 watt or the 40W?
- xTool S1 metal engraving: what it can and can't do
- Are laser engraving training courses worth paying for?
- How to laser cut clear acrylic without melting the edges
- What hidden costs should you budget for with an xTool S1?
- When is the xTool S1 the wrong machine?
Is the xTool S1 worth it as a small CNC laser cutting machine?
Depends on what you're cutting. Total cost of ownership (i.e., not just the unit price, but everything that plugs into it) is the number that matters. The base kit lands around $1,000 — check the site for current pricing, since it moves — and you'll want air assist, the honeycomb bed, and probably the enclosure. That adds a few hundred more. Bottom line: compared to the CO₂ systems we priced out, which ran 2-3 times higher once you added a chiller and proper exhaust, the S1 is a low-risk entry point.
The caveat: "small CNC laser cutting machine" is literal. It cuts thin materials well — 3mm acrylic, 3-5mm wood, leather, cardstock. It won't do 12mm hardwood in a single pass, and I've seen one too many people buy it expecting that. If your work is primarily engraving and light cutting, the S1 makes sense on paper and in practice. If your volume is thick-stock production cutting, keep looking.
Should you start with the xTool S1 20 watt or go straight to the 40W?
Start with the 20W unless you already have a backlog that demands cut speed. This is where the S1's modular design actually saves you money. The 20W covers most small-shop jobs — we've run paid production on ours since October, and it hasn't hit a wall yet.
Would the 40W cut faster? Sure. But "faster" only matters when you're at capacity, not when you're still learning the machine. And because the modules are swappable, you can upgrade later without throwing away your first investment. We kept our 20W module after expanding the setup (not that we've needed it, but backups are nice). The 10W, though, I'd skip entirely. The 20W is the no-brainer choice between those two.
xTool S1 metal engraving: what it can and can't do
This is the biggest gap between marketing and reality, and I'd rather you hear it from me than from a disappointed client. The S1 does engrave certain metals — anodized aluminum comes out beautifully, because the beam burns away the anodized layer and leaves a crisp, pale mark. It can mark stainless steel if you apply a marking solution first, and it works on some painted or coated metals.
Bare steel or uncoated aluminum, though? You'll get a light surface mark, not a deep engraving. If someone quotes you "metal engraving" on the S1, the fine print is doing a lot of work. We changed our service menu within the first month to say "metal marking on select coated metals" — which, honestly, helped sales. (Surprise, surprise: honest descriptions attract better customers.)
I'm not a material scientist, so I can't explain exactly why the beam behaves differently on each metal. What I can tell you from the procurement side: if your business depends on deep engraving into stainless steel, the S1 isn't the answer. That's a fiber laser job. The S1 is a great tool for metal marking — just don't buy it expecting it to do everything.
Are laser engraving training courses worth paying for?
Some are. Most aren't. I set aside $1,200 for laser engraving training courses and ended up spending $350 on one material-specific course, which paid for itself in about a week.
The pattern I found: courses that cover software basics and general laser physics can be replaced by free YouTube content. Courses that get into material behavior — acrylic settings, leather thickness, metal preparation, troubleshooting burned edges — are where the ROI lives. Check the syllabus before you pay. If it mentions "material settings" or "how to diagnose failures," it's practical. If it's mostly an interface overview, save your money.
And don't underestimate the value of a course's community. The one we paid for runs a private group where people post material settings and troubleshooting questions. That alone has saved us hours of trial-and-error.
How to laser cut clear acrylic without melting the edges
Take it from someone who wasted about $200 in material before getting this right: use cast acrylic, not extruded. They look identical on the shelf, but extruded melts near the cut line and leaves a rough, frosted edge that ruins the piece. Cast acrylic cuts clean — the edge comes out slightly flame-polished, which clients actually like.
Second, use air assist. Cutting clear acrylic without it produces that milky, rough edge that cheapens the final product. Third, don't crank the power. On our 20W module, 3mm cast acrylic comes out clean around 8 mm/s at 40-50% power. Your numbers may vary, which is exactly why you test on scraps before running a paid job. (We keep a bin of off-cuts for this reason. It's saved us far more than the material costs.)
What hidden costs should you budget for with an xTool S1?
Five things that never show up on the quote:
Ventilation. You need to exhaust fumes. We built a basic setup for about $120 — a fan, tubing, and a window adapter. This isn't optional. The enclosure routes smoke to the exhaust port, but you still need to move it outside. If you're in a commercial space, check your building codes first. That gets into OSHA compliance territory, which isn't my expertise — I'd recommend a workshop safety consultant for that.
Replacement parts. We cracked a focusing lens in month three (our fault, not the machine's). $60. Buy a spare when you buy the machine, not after.
Maintenance supplies. We didn't have a formal maintenance routine at first, and it showed. A dirty lens and residue buildup degraded output quality enough that I noticed it in the numbers before I noticed it in the parts. Cleaning supplies, spare lenses, and a simple monthly checklist: budget $200-300 for the first year.
Material testing stock. You'll burn through test pieces while dialing in settings for each material type. It's a small cost, but it adds up across woods, acrylics, and metals. We set aside $30-50 per month for scrap material, and it's been enough.
Safety accessories. The S1's enclosure has interlocks for a good reason. Per FDA laser requirements (21 CFR 1040.10), laser products sold in the U.S. have specific safety features — don't disable them. With the enclosure open, the beam is Class 4 and can cause permanent eye damage. Use the safety glasses that came with the machine. I'm not being paranoid; I just don't want anyone learning that lesson the hard way.
When is the xTool S1 the wrong machine for your business?
When your volume is high and your material is thick. That's not the "buy it!" answer you're looking for, but it's the honest one.
We run paid production on the S1 every day, and it's reliable. But when we priced out higher-volume cutting of 6mm+ acrylic, CO₂ machines won the math — faster per-part time, lower cost per piece at scale. That's not a knock on the S1. It's just what the numbers said.
Here's how I'd frame it: if you're doing 50 engraved pieces a day with occasional light cutting, the S1 is a solid, low-risk choice. If you're doing 200 cut pieces a day, run the numbers on a CO₂ machine before you buy anything. Either way, the S1 holds resale value well, so it's not a dead-end purchase.
