[AFA2019]

I have a 2nd hand machine and I am self learning. I want to cut basic 2D shapes and make hobby plaques. I have managed to have everything connected, downloaded a free .nc file. I have used the control panel to set the x,y,z home positions. When I hit start, the control panel shows the shape with a slow moving outline but the machine is not moving. Any ideas on what I should check next please?

[routalot]

Welcome to the forum.I can think of one or two things that might be causing your problem.Can you provide a bit more information to help us pinpoint the area to investigate?Firstly a bit more about the machine might attract the attention of people knowledgeable about that particular machine.Secondly have you managed to jog the machine using the controls,rather than running a program?Thirdly,can you post the first thirty or so lines of the program you are trying to run.

The reasons for asking these questions are that the program you have found might have been created with a post-processor that is not compatible with your controller and it may need editing to make it suitable.If you have managed to move your machine manually it establishes that the installation is basically correct.
When you describe setting the home position of the machine,it isn't sufficient information for your machine as it will need to know where the part datum is in relation to the home position.Is the program set to run in the units your machine defaults to?It is possible that you have downloaded a metric program and may be trying to run it on an imperially set machine and the larger numbers might have persuaded the machine that it would have exceeded the limits of it's work envelope.It is also possible that the feed rate is set to a very low number and no movement is apparent.

I would strongly suggest that while you are at this learning stage you don't put any material on the machine and just master moving it around in fresh air.Once you have confidence that the machine will be moving where you expect it to,its time to make shavings.