Hi,
Are work and machine coordinates the same
No they are not the same.
Machine coordinates are relative to the 0,0,0 set by your home switches.
Work coordinates you can shift around and are usually zeroed to one corner of the piece of material.
The Work Coordinates are numerically equal to the Machine Coordinates + the Work Offsets.
Your description is still confussing. Hit <Z+> jog button. Does the Z axis go up?
Craig