PRIME MOTION— Help

Getting started › Your first job, end to end

Your first job, end to end

This is the shortest complete path: bring in a program, tell the machine where the work is, look at what it is about to do, and run it.

1 · Home the machine

Jog → Home. Until this is done, most of the app is unavailable and no coordinate means anything.

2 · Bring in a program

Programs live in Projects. Create a project, then import G-code from Google Drive, Dropbox, or this device.

Tap a single file to load it, or Run Project to run a whole set in order.

See Projects and Files and storage.

3 · Set work zero

Fix your material down, then jog the tool to the point the program calls zero — usually a corner of the stock, with Z at the top surface — and zero the axes.

This is the step that decides whether the job lands on the material or somewhere else. See Setting work zero.

The zero row on the Jog screen — each axis on its own, or Zero All at once
The zero row on the Jog screen — each axis on its own, or Zero All at once

4 · Look at the Run screen before you press anything

Three free checks, each of which catches a different disaster:

  1. Is the toolpath sitting on the stock? If the bed looks empty, the job is not where you think it is. Do not start.
  2. What colour is the Safety button? The app has already read every line of the program. Amber is a warning, red is a violation.
  3. Is the machine name on the bed the machine you are standing at?

See The Run screen.

The moment a program lands — lines counted, estimate ready, nothing sent
The moment a program lands — lines counted, estimate ready, nothing sent

5 · Air run, if you want to be sure

Air Run runs the program above the material so you can watch the moves without cutting. On a first job with an unfamiliar file, it costs one run of the clock and nothing else.

Air Run sits between loading and starting, in the Run screen's action row
Air Run sits between loading and starting, in the Run screen's action row

6 · Start

Start streams the program. While it runs you can:

  • Hold to pause with a controlled stop, then Resume.
  • Overrides to trim feed, rapid and spindle live — see Feed and speed overrides.

7 · Afterwards

Every job lands in History with how it ended. If one is cut short, Wizards → Job Recovery can pick it up from the line it reached — see Recovering an interrupted job.