ToolDance X1 Hands-On at IFA 2026 – Desktop CNC Made Easy?

At IFA Berlin 2026 I got a close look at the ToolDance X1, a new desktop CNC milling machine designed to make CNC machining much more accessible.

Unlike a 3D printer, which builds a part layer by layer, a CNC machine starts with a solid block of material and removes material using cutting tools. That means you can machine parts from aluminium, plastics and even some steels.

The interesting thing about the ToolDance X1 is how much of the traditional CNC setup it tries to automate. It uses a combination of cameras, LiDAR and probing to help with positioning, toolholding and even finding the correct coordinates after flipping a part. The probe communicates wirelessly, and ToolDance is also developing a 5-axis module.

In this video I take a look at the X1 at IFA Berlin, explain what desktop CNC milling actually is, and why machines like this could become the next big step for makers, engineers and small businesses that want to produce real metal prototypes in-house.

Desktop CNC machines like this are still considerably more expensive than most consumer 3D printers, typically costing several thousand euros, but that is still a fraction of what professional CNC machining centres can cost.

https://tooldance.ai

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