Shapeoko Cutting Area — Nest Every Part Onto Your Bed Size
The Shapeoko 4 XXL cuts a 33" × 33" area with about 4" of Z, and the newer Shapeoko 5 Pro 4x4 steps up to roughly 48" × 48" with about 6" of Z travel. This calculator nests your parts against your bed size so you know how many come off one spoilboard load before you cut. Free to try, in your browser, no signup.
Shapeoko cutting areas, precisely
Nominal sizes from Carbide 3D's product pages (checked 2026-10). Carbide 3D and resellers list slightly larger actual envelopes on some models (the 5 Pro 4x4 is often quoted at about 48.7" × 48.7"), so check your machine's documentation or jog it to its limits for the exact number:
- Shapeoko 4 Standard: 17.5" × 17.5", about 4" Z
- Shapeoko 4 XL: 33" × 17.5", about 4" Z
- Shapeoko 4 XXL: 33" × 33", about 4" Z
- Shapeoko 5 Pro 2x2: about 24" × 24", about 6" Z travel
- Shapeoko 5 Pro 4x2: about 48" × 24", about 6" Z travel
- Shapeoko 5 Pro 4x4: about 48" × 48", about 6" Z travel — half of a 4×8 sheet in one load
Whichever machine you run, the cutting area (not the machine's footprint) is the number a layout needs. Leave a margin for clamps or screws if you hold stock down at the edges.
Worked example: 10×14 cutting board blanks on a Shapeoko 4 XXL
Run through the optimizer against a 33" × 33" bed, a ⅛" (3.175 mm) router-bit kerf, and rotation allowed:
- 8 requested 10" × 14" cutting board blanks
- 6 fit in a single bed load — 77.1% bed utilization
- The remaining 2 need a second load
Area math (33 × 33 = 1,089 sq in ÷ 140 sq in per blank ≈ 7.8) suggests 7. It doesn't work: three 10" blanks use 30¼" of the 33" width, two 14" rows use 28⅛" of the height, and the strips left over are too narrow for another blank in either orientation. The layout, not the division, tells you it's 6.
How to use it
- Open the optimizer — the button below preloads a 33" × 33" sheet labeled "Shapeoko 4 XXL bed" (swap the dimensions for a 5 Pro or a smaller Shapeoko before you run it)
- Add your parts: width × height × quantity for each shape you're cutting
- Set kerf to your bit diameter — ⅛" (3.175 mm) is typical for a router bit, thinner for smaller downcut/upcut bits
- Allow rotation unless grain or engraving orientation is fixed
- Run it. You get the per-load part count, bed utilization, and a layout diagram you can export as DXF for your CAM software (EZNESTING places rectangles; it doesn't generate toolpaths)
Where this fits among the tools
This page is about the Shapeoko's own bed sizes. For a general router-bed workflow across brands, see the CNC router nest optimizer; background on the packing problem underneath any of these layouts is in what bin packing means for cut lists and nesting optimizer use cases.