Best Desktop CNC 2026 for Cutting Metal at Home: Aluminium and Titanium Picks by Purpose

When I searched for desktop CNC recommendations in Japanese, what came up was mostly wood routers costing a few hundred dollars. But what I want is a machine that can cut aluminium and titanium at home. I want to make titanium keycaps, an Apple Watch band, chess pieces and a Stirling engine.

Over the past month I’ve researched the ED1, X1, C500, Carvera Air and Z1 one by one, so here they are, sorted by purpose for anyone who wants to cut metal.

I don’t own any of these machines yet. I backed the ToolDance X1 on Kickstarter on 15 October 2026. Figures are the makers’ published values; prices were checked on 8–17 October 2026, and yen is at USD 1 = JPY 150.

The short answer: picks by purpose

Any of them can cut aluminium or brass. The three things that decide it are whether you want to cut titanium or stainless, whether you want automatic tool changes, and where it will go.

How to choose

1. Which metal do you want to cut?

All five handle aluminium, brass and copper. The difference is titanium and stainless steel. Makera says it doesn’t recommend them for the Z1 without experience; the Carvera Air and ED1 say long machining isn’t recommended; the C500 lists them among its materials. As far as I found, only the X1 published actual cutting conditions for titanium and stainless. More in Can a desktop CNC cut aluminium, stainless and titanium? (Japanese).

2. How big are the parts?

From each maker’s official specs. “Tools” is how many tools the machine changes by itself (manual means you change them by hand). The Z1 blows air at the spindle; the Carvera Air blows air from a connected compressor. MQL sprays a small amount of oil as a mist. On Japan’s 100 V, the X1 spindle drops to about 900–1,000 W (the maker’s answer). The C500 work area is without the ATC; with the ATC it gets smaller, and the figures differ between documents.

Small parts like keycaps fit in any of them. For anything over 200 mm, look at the Carvera Air, ED1 or X1.

3. Do you want automatic tool changes?

Swapping the cutter by hand and re-measuring its length every time is more work than it sounds. The Z1 and Carvera Air are manual; the ED1 and C500 change up to five tools by themselves, and the X1 up to nine.

4. Where will it go, and is there enough power?

At home, weight narrows the list a lot. The ones that sit easily on a desk are the Z1, Carvera Air and ED1, at up to about 40 kg. The C500 and X1 are around or over 100 kg, so they need a sturdy stand and enough people to carry them to the room.

For power, a Japanese household outlet allows up to 1,500 W across both sockets. The Z1 (300 W max), Carvera Air (400 W) and ED1 (840 W) have room to spare. The maker told me the whole X1 stays within 1,500 W on Japan’s 100 V, with no electrical work needed (the 1,700 W maximum in their earlier reply is for 110/120 V). How much headroom is left isn’t stated, so it’s safer to give it an outlet of its own. Details are in What to check before buying a home CNC (Japanese).

5. Compare the total

The machine price alone doesn’t settle it. Add a dust collector, 4th axis, probe and vise to the Z1 and the USD 1,399 machine becomes USD 2,295, 1.6 times the machine alone. When an individual in Japan imports one, consumption tax is 10% of 60% of the price. You also need cutters and something to hold the stock, so it’s worth comparing the total with everything you want included.

Common “which one?” questions

Z1 or Carvera Air?

The difference is USD 1,300. The biggest differences are the work area (200 × 200 mm vs 300 × 200 mm) and the screws that move the table (trapezoidal on the Z1, ball screws on the Carvera Air). Mostly wood, plastic or circuit boards: the Z1. Mostly aluminium or copper with parts under 200 mm: the Z1 Pro. Parts over 200 mm, or cutting metal on a 4th axis: the Carvera Air. More in Z1 vs Carvera Air (Japanese).

ED1 or X1?

This is where I hesitated most.

The ED1 weighs 38 kg and draws 840 W at most, so power is no worry. I want to put it upstairs in my house, and with future moves in mind, being light really matters.

Even so, I chose the X1 in the end, for the work area and titanium. TwoTrees itself says it doesn’t recommend long titanium machining on the ED1, and I couldn’t find any cooling system. The X1 has published conditions for cutting titanium for more than 60 minutes, and offers liquid cooling.

On price, machine against machine, the X1 is USD 2,799 after the USD 200 VIP cashback and the ED1 is USD 2,699, a gap of USD 100. It widens when you add flood coolant or 5-axis to the X1.

X1 or C500?

Both are around 100 kg and have an ATC. The C500 comes with an 800 W spindle, MQL, a five-tool ATC and an enclosure from the start, and you can add a 4th axis. The X1 has a 1,500 W spindle, with liquid cooling and 5-axis as options. My comparisons are in the C500 article (Japanese) and the X1 article.

Do you need it? ATC, 4- and 5-axis, flood coolant

Do you need an ATC?

If one part uses several cutters, it makes life easier. When I used lathes and mills at technical college, changing the tool and setting the position again was not something I wanted to do by hand every time. If your parts are simple and need only one or two cutters, a manual machine is enough.

Do you need 4- or 5-axis?

A 4th axis rotates the stock; 5-axis rotates it and also tilts it. Carving a pattern around something round is 4-axis work; a shape with faces in many directions, like a chess knight, is where 5-axis comes in. For 5-axis as an individual, the candidate right now is the X1’s 5-axis module (simultaneous 5-axis parts up to 80 × 80 × 80 mm, specs still in development). The desktop 5-axis Xmachine WM-100 is for businesses only because of export controls (WM-100 article). For a first machine, you can add it once you have more shapes you want to make. More in Do you need 4-axis or 5-axis? (Japanese).

Do you need flood coolant?

In the X1’s published figures, the flood condition removes about twice as much titanium (with different speeds and feeds as well). But there are also conditions showing it cut titanium for more than 60 minutes with air alone. Liquid means more refilling and cleaning, and upstairs, a leak is a worry too. If you mostly make small parts, I think starting with air and adding flood if it falls short is enough.

How these differ from cheap wood routers (3018 and similar)

What comes up most in searches are small CNCs with “3018” in the name. The SainSmart 3018-PROVer, for example, has a 260 × 155 × 35 mm work area and a small DC motor as the spindle (a 775 motor, up to 10,000 rpm), for USD 269 (shown as sold out on 11 October 2026). SainSmart 3018-PROVer

That’s a good price for starting on wood, plastic and circuit boards. But the spindle size, enclosure, ATC and cooling are completely different from the machines here. If cutting metal is the goal, it’s probably best to treat them as a different category from the start.

Which one I’d choose: the X1

I backed the X1 on Kickstarter on 15 October 2026. What I most want to make is small titanium parts, and the X1 gave the most concrete conditions for doing that. I’m also looking forward to a nine-tool ATC taking a part all the way to finish at the push of a button.

Still, putting it upstairs and carrying 100 kg every time I move worry me. I couldn’t afford the 4-axis and 5-axis modules this time. The setup I chose and its price are in the X1 article.

If titanium isn’t your goal, I think the ED1 or Carvera Air is easier to place and easier to start with.

References

• Official stores for the Makera Z1 and Carvera Air (prices, checked 11 October 2026)
• TwoTrees ED1 (price and specs, checked 11 October 2026)
• ToolDance X1 on Kickstarter and X1 specifications (price, specs, titanium and stainless cutting conditions)
• NestWorks C500 on Kickstarter (price, checked 8 October 2026)
• SainSmart 3018-PROVer (specs and price)
• Detailed sources for specs, weight, power and total cost are in each machine’s article linked above.

Update history

• 17 October 2026: I backed the X1 on Kickstarter, so “reserved” is now “backed”. X1 prices follow the Kickstarter page (including the 5-axis bundle), and the ED1 price follows its pre-order increase (USD 2,399 to 2,699). The Carvera Air sale has ended, so its price is now USD 2,699 (USD 3,098 with the 4th axis).
• 2026-10-11: First published.