That's the thing, the drawing is not correct. It is a mirror image in Y. If I draw a triangle with the point UP on the mach display, it gets drawn with the point forward (away from the pillar). Opposite of how I would anticipate it to draw.

Ok, I see that my Y is configured incorrectly. Not sure what the proper way to reconfigure it is though - still getting my head around this!

You need to reverse the Y axis in Homing and limits.
It is one of the hardest things to get your head around with a mill but just wait until you get a lathe as well


Hood

Ok, when I check the Reverse Axis box in the Homing/Limits dialog, the tool path matches what is drawn on screen. Is that it?

Yes
Also your Up arrow button will move the Y Positive on the screen and in the DRO and the table will move towards you.

Hood

Yes, it does. I think I understand it now, I think.At least what is drawn on the Mach display is what gets drawn when I mount a pencil and the table movements make sense.

thanks a lot for the help!

Cheers,
Michael

No probs, as I said its one of the hardest things to get your head around and even after using a mill for many years I sometimes still have to stop and think
 It is because you see the table move and it seems to be going the wrong way but in reality you need to think of what the tool is doing in relation to your work. If your mill had a fixed table and the column moved it would seem much easier

Hood

Yes, I had built a CNC router table and the tool moved. That was easier! Oddly, I understood the X movement but my mind was reversing the Y!

There are mills out there that work that way, my pal has a Chiron mill, really nice machine with lightening fast toolchanges, under 1 second if I remember and the bed is fixed and the column moves. Almost got one myself but the headroom in my workshop is too low
Hood