Blog › Work area, travel and footprint: the three sizes on a CNC spec sheet
1 November 2026 · 2 min read
Work area, travel and footprint: the three sizes on a CNC spec sheet
A machine with a 400 mm work area can take up nearly three times that much bench. The numbers from the spec sheets in the record.
Every CNC spec sheet leads with a size, but makers use different words for it, and none of them tell you how much room the machine needs on a bench. There are three different sizes worth knowing.
Work area or travel
This is how far the bit can move in X and Y, and so the largest area it can cut in one go. SainSmart's buyer's guide puts it in one line: "Working travel describes the cutting range; pass height describes clearance for stock and fixtures". Makers call it "working area", "cutting area", "active working area" or "travel". SainSmart gives the 4040-PRO's as 400 × 400 × 78 mm. Onefinity uses "working area" for X and Y and lists two Z figures, a cutting area and a travel.
It's the number most people compare, and it's the one this site's sizes chart draws to scale:
Z: travel and clearance
Z is the up-and-down direction, and it's the most confusing line on a spec sheet. Z travel is how far the bit can move up and down. Clearance is how tall a piece of material can fit under the gantry. Sienci Labs gives both for the LongMill MK3 30x30: "Z-axis clearance: 4.6″" and 5.1″ of maximum travel. Most pages give one number and don't say which it is.
Footprint
The footprint is the space the whole machine takes up, motors and all. Only six of the fourteen pages in the record give one. Here's how they compare with the work area:
| Machine | Work area (X × Y) | Footprint (X × Y) | Footprint ÷ work area |
|---|---|---|---|
| SainSmart 4040-PRO | 400 × 400 mm | 673 × 663 mm | 2.8× |
| SainSmart 4040-PRO MAX | 400 × 400 mm | 660 × 666 mm | 2.7× |
| Sienci Labs LongMill MK3 30x30 | 813 × 813 mm | 1,016 × 1,143 mm | 1.8× |
| Carbide 3D Nomad 3 | 203 × 203 mm | 444 × 483 mm | 5.2× |
| Sienci Labs AltMill MK2 4x4 | 1245 × 1245 mm | 1,499 × 1,575 mm | 1.5× |
| Sienci Labs AltMill MK2 2x4 | 1245 × 635 mm | 1,499 × 965 mm | 1.8× |
Footprints as published; those given in inches are converted by me. The ratio is my own calculation.
The pattern is that a small machine needs proportionally much more space than its work area suggests. The Nomad 3 is the extreme case because it's fully enclosed: its 8 × 8 inch work area sits inside a 17.5 × 19 inch box. The ratio isn't a measure of quality. It's a reminder to measure your bench against the footprint, not the work area.
What to check on a spec sheet
- Whether the size quoted is the work area or the machine's outside size. Model names like "4x2" or "30x30" don't always say.
- Which Z figure is given: travel, clearance, or "cutting area".
- Whether a footprint is given at all. If it isn't, it's worth asking the maker before you clear space.
One page in the record shows why the first point matters: Carbide 3D's spec page for the Shapeoko 5.1 Pro had empty placeholders in its "Machine Travel" and "Machine Footprint" rows when I read it on 1 November 2026.
Sources
Read on 1 November 2026. Quotes are copied from these pages.