Hi,
I thought the way the Z worked is that from it's lowest point and going to it's highest would all be + and page down would be -.
Its common that the machine coordinate of the uppermost Z position is zero. All operations on Z are conducted
at negative Z MACHINE co-ordinates. That is effectively the same as what you have proposed. Its just that at its
lowest it starts a high negative number and becomes increasingly less negative as it moves upwards.
The DROs however are usually displaying WORK coordinates. Usually you would 'zero' Z at the surface of the material.
Thereafter any positive Z coordinate (remember work coordinate) is above the material and any negative (again
work coordinate) is cutting into the material and you need to concentrate.
Would setting up soft limits have any affect on my situation?
Without home switches to reference your machine soft limits are worse than useless, they will fault out all the time
and confuse you. I highly recommend you fit home switches. It was the best and possibly cheapest addition to my mill.
Craig