I just finished assembling my CNC: what do I do in the first hour?

The commissioning sequence

1. Remove every shipping restraint. Foam carriage locks, zip ties on shafts and bracket anchors on feet: machines ship with them and they are easy to miss. Check the manual's unboxing page specifically.
2. Check squareness: measure BOTH diagonals across the rails. They must be equal. Unequal diagonals mean a racked frame, so fix it per your machine's squaring procedure now, not after bad cuts.
3. Check coplanarity (frame not twisted): use the classic fishing-line method. Lines crossed corner-to-corner should just kiss where they cross.
4. Check factory-loose hardware: on V-wheel machines, eccentric nuts routinely arrive loose or work loose, so set wheels so they barely turn with finger resistance. Check motor coupling grub screws and connector seating everywhere.
5. Verify the spindle or router is perpendicular to the bed (tram). Do a rough check now, and a fine tram after the wasteboard is surfaced.
6. Power up, update firmware, and connect your control software.
7. Home the machine and jog every axis full travel. Listen and feel for binding.
8. Install and surface the wasteboard (see the spoilboard entry). This is the commissioning capstone, and it also proves spindle, toolpath and Z-zero all work.
9. Re-run the factory test file if your machine shipped with one (some makers ship the actual test piece they cut before boxing). It verifies nothing shifted in transit.

Then do your first real cut. See the "what should my first cut be" entry.

Pro tips

• Re-torque fasteners after the first few hours of running, because new machines settle.
• Save the box and foam until the machine has proven itself, because warranty returns happen.