We are firing code at Dave - but I think he needs to know how to get started - perhaps.
The most important thing is - where is your 0.0 position in your code.
The X0 position is usually down the centreline of the lathe. The Z0 position is normally on the end of the workpiece. So -
Put a piece of barstock in the machine, and jog up to it and take a facing cut across. (You can do this with the jog buttons, if you run the speed down to about 10%) Zero your Z axis.
Move your tool out, and down the barstock a little, and then, with the jog, touch the tool on the stock. This is you X position, but you need to measure the diameter (or radius) of the barstock and enter it into the X DRO. You can run the lathe in either diameter mode, or radius mode, which ever you feel more confident with. In diameter mode, you enter all X axis workings to the finished diameter you want, in radius mode, you have to half these (obviously) .
Z minus is towards the chuck, Z plus is away from it. X minus is towards the centreline, X plus is away from it. If you enter in the MDI line (not jogging becasue the jog buttons are changable) a plus move and check if the axis goes the right way. If it does not, then on your Config/Ports and Pins/Motor Outputs, change the DIR pin to "Active Low" or vica versa. This will reverse the movement of the axis. You will then need to check your jogging buttons and make sure they move the axis the same way - Config/Hotkeys
A lot of lathe work is repetative, as Hood said, and, therefore, a lot of us make use of macros for say thinning down barstock, where you might make 10 cuts to get down to where you need - all the cuts are the same, just 20 thou or so deeper.
On page one of my lathe, I have several User DROs which I can fill in with lengths, cut, feed and radius etc, and I have written several macro's to take this information, and then write the GCode - rather like the wizards - but it writes the code on the fly, whilst the machine is running. You are welcome to my lset, and macros if you would like them. They do simple work, like facing, thinning down, cutting axle ends (two different diameters), boring, and rounding off bar ends. I work in steel.
Keep at it, when the machine starts running as you want it, it gives you a nice buzz - but then you have to run round getting rid of all the shavings it makes - and it makes them faster than you can get rid of them.