The arrow keys move the TABLE in the desired direction. I have a retrofit Bridgeport boss 4. When standing in front of the machine and homing, the machine zero is on the left front side of the table. Bridgeports have a half circle cut out on the table that shows machine zero. When jogging away from machine zero point X & Y DRO read minus values. This is normal in cnc machining.
When it comes to setting the work zero (G54) it should follow the cartesian grid. If I move the tool to the center of the table and place the grid under the tool at X0,Y0 (red dot on grid) and call this G54, then any positive XY values in the program should move the tool in quadrant 1, regardless of where machine zero is. All my movement is in quadrant 3 of the grid which would be all XY negative values in the program.
Its like a reverse mirror image.
And to top it all off, I now have my z axis stuck. Traveled beyond the limit switch and jammed.
Sometimes I think its better to kick yourself in the nuts and stay in bed all day than to take on the headache of cnc troubleshooting !