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Getting started › Your first job, end to end

Your first job, end to end

This page walks one program from Projects to a finished cut. It assumes a machine profile exists, the machine is connected, and it is homed (or has no homing switches). If not, start with Connecting to your machine.

1 · Have a program

A program comes from one of two places:

  • Post it from your own design. Model the part in Design, plan its toolpaths in the Manufacturing workspace, and Export. The program lands in Projects as a project named after the design. See Posting a program.
  • Import it. Create a project in Projects and import .nc, .gcode, .ngc, .ncp or .tap files from the tablet, an SD card or a USB drive. See Projects.

2 · Prepare the machine

  1. Clamp the stock so the cutter cannot reach a clamp. The program does not know where your clamps are.
  2. Fit the tool the program expects. A program posted from Prime Motion names its tool in its header; Run Information → Tool shows the tool number once the file is loaded.
  3. Clear the machine: nothing on the rails, nothing in the path of the gantry.

3 · Load the program

Open Projects, open the project, and tap the file you want to run. Prime Motion loads it and switches to Control without moving the machine. Run Project loads every file in the project in run order instead.

Control with Face 1.nc loaded: the file banner shows its name, line count and estimate
Control with Face 1.nc loaded: the file banner shows its name, line count and estimate

Check three things before going further:

  • The banner at the top of the view names the file, its line count and the estimated time.
  • The toolpath sits on the bed where you expect. It is drawn relative to the current work zero. Before you set zero it may sit at the machine's corner, or off the bed altogether.
  • The Safety toggle's colour. Amber means a warning, red a critical finding, such as a move outside the machine's travel. Investigate before you start. See The Control screen.

4 · Set work zero

Work zero is the point on your stock that the program calls X0 Y0 Z0. It must match the origin chosen when the program was made. For a Prime Motion design that is the WCS Origin of its Tool Run, such as the top front-left corner of the stock.

  1. Use the Jog card to bring the tool over that point. Large steps first, then 1, 0.5 and 0.1 as you get close.
  2. Lower Z until the tool just touches the top of the stock. A slip of paper that just drags under the tool is a classic gauge.
  3. Tap Zero All on the Location card and confirm with Zero in the drawer.
The Zero all axes drawer: the bed with the tool's position, ZEROING NOTES, Cancel and Zero
The Zero all axes drawer: the bed with the tool's position, ZEROING NOTES, Cancel and Zero

The WPos values now read zero, and the toolpath moves onto your stock in the view. If you have a touch plate, Probing finds the surface for you. Full detail is in Setting work zero.

5 · Check the footprint, then rehearse

With the machine clear and safe Z checked, tap Run in Control's left rail, then explicitly choose Outline for the spindle-off footprint check. Inspect the stock edges and clamps. STOP, Hold and E-STOP each end that trace.

Then choose Run → Air Run. Reopen Run and choose Start to rehearse the program. The next run lifts every Z move clear of the work and keeps the spindle off, so you can watch the whole program trace in the air. The machine still moves, at the program's own feeds. After the rehearsal, choose Run → Air Run again to switch it off. See Rehearsing with Air Run.

6 · Start

Recheck the stock, cutter and zero. Open Run and choose Start (Start Project when a whole project is loaded) for the cut. Before anything is sent, Prime Motion checks the setup. If something is missing, a drawer says what, for example Work Zero Not Set, and nothing moves.

The Work Zero Not Set drawer, refusing a start because work zero has not been set
The Work Zero Not Set drawer, refusing a start because work zero has not been set

7 · Watch, pause or stop

While the job runs, the first rail slot becomes Stop and Hold pauses it.

The command rail during a job: Stop, Overrides, Single Block, Hold and Resume
The command rail during a job: Stop, Overrides, Single Block, Hold and Resume
  • Hold brings the machine to a controlled stop and keeps your place. Resume carries on.
  • Stop ends the job. It cannot be resumed.
  • E-STOP, three taps, cancels the job from any screen. It is a software stop; your machine's physical emergency stop is the one to use when it matters. See E-STOP, feed hold and reset.

Run Information shows the line being sent, the elapsed and remaining time, the feed and the spindle speed.

Run Information during a job: the line count with percentage, elapsed and remaining time, and a progress bar
Run Information during a job: the line count with percentage, elapsed and remaining time, and a progress bar

If the program asks for a different tool, the job pauses with a Tool Change drawer; see Tool changes.

8 · Finish

When the last line is done, Run Information reports Completed and the Notes tab records Job completed. Parts counts up by one. The job is recorded in History, where you can load it again for the next piece.

The Notes tab after the job: Job completed, with the line count and the time it took
The Notes tab after the job: Job completed, with the line count and the time it took

Still stuck? Contact support or email support@primemotioncnc.com.