Straight answers about how CNCjogger works. Something not covered? Send us a message — we'll do our best to help you out.
Two parts: a free phone app (iPhone and Android) and the CNCjogger Stick — a small USB stick that plugs into the computer that controls your CNC. Your computer "sees" the CNCjogger Stick as a regular plug-and-play keyboard. When you tap jog buttons in the app, the CNCjogger Stick "types" the matching keyboard shortcuts into your CNC software. Your phone becomes the wireless jog control — as long as your CNC control software is ready to receive keyboard input, the CNCjogger can send it.
The computer. The CNCjogger Stick plugs into any free USB port on the computer that runs your CNC software. Whenever you want to jog your machine, your phone connects to the CNCjogger Stick wirelessly through the app. Nothing plugs into your phone. A USB-C to USB-A adapter is included so it fits either port type, depending on what you have available on your computer.
No. The CNCjogger Stick enumerates as a standard USB keyboard — the same way any keyboard works automatically when you plug it into your computer — so there is nothing to install, no drivers, no settings to change, and nothing running in the background. Plug it in, open your CNC software's jog screen, open the app, and you're jogging.
The app has ready-to-go presets for Carbide Motion (Shapeoko and Nomad — including all four jog speed settings), Universal Gcode Sender (UGS Mac and UGS Windows), Easel (X-Carve), Mach3, Mach4, OpenBuilds CONTROL, and gSender.
Beyond the presets: if your CNC software supports keyboard jogging, CNCjogger can work with it — Custom Layout mode lets you assign any keystroke (with modifiers) to any button. Customers have set it up with software we never planned for. If you're unsure about yours, ask us — we'll do our best to assess whether it can work.
(All presets provide X/Y/Z jogging; for jog-speed buttons, see the next question.)
CNCjogger is designed to work with these products, but is not created by, endorsed by, or affiliated with, their makers.
It depends on your CNC software. In Carbide Motion (control software for Shapeoko and Nomad), yes — the app's speed buttons map to Carbide Motion's four jog-speed settings and work right away.
Many other CNC control programs don't offer keyboard shortcuts for changing jog speed or feed rate at all — and where the software doesn't allow keyboard input to change the jog speed, there's nothing the CNCjogger can send to change it. But if your software does let you set jog speed or feed rate from a keyboard shortcut — or lets you define custom keyboard shortcuts or macros that do — you can map that key combination to a button in the app's Custom Layout settings, and the CNCjogger will send it.
Yes. The app is free on both the App Store (iOS 16 or newer) and Google Play (Android 8.0 or newer).
Usually not. Your computer "sees" the CNCjogger Stick the same way it would see a regular keyboard plugged into your computer, and it jogs whatever software window has focus — so one CNCjogger Stick could be used to control multiple machines from a single computer. Whichever machine's software is the active window is the one that receives the jog keys.
If you are running multiple computers in the same shop, that's a more complicated setup — send us a message describing it and we'll do our best to help you figure out whether CNCjogger fits it.
Yes. The CNCjogger Stick sends keystrokes, and your computer delivers keystrokes to whatever window is active — so your CNC software needs to be open, on its jog screen, and in focus, exactly as it would for jogging from the keyboard on your desk. (In Carbide Motion, that means having the jog window open.)
The CNCjogger Stick itself can stay plugged in permanently — but if you tap buttons and nothing moves, the most common reason is that the jog screen isn't the active window on the computer.
About 30 feet in typical shop environments. The app reconnects automatically the moment you open it.
We know you have lots of options for jogging your CNC, but the CNCjogger has some unique advantages. Wired pendants cost roughly $100–$400 and add a cable; Bluetooth keypads are cheap but are one more device in the shop to charge, sync, and keep track of. CNCjogger leverages the fact that you already carry a battery-powered touchscreen controller — your phone — the CNCjogger app and CNCjogger Stick let you use it to jog your CNC. Nothing new to charge, nothing to store, nothing with cables that can wear out over time.
CNCjogger sends keyboard shortcuts, so it can only do what your CNC software exposes as a shortcut. Many CNC control programs have no reliable keyboard shortcut for pause/resume or feed override, so we don't offer buttons for those functions at this time. CNCjogger is for jog control — X/Y/Z positioning and speed selection where the software supports it.
$36 with free US shipping — that's the CNCjogger Stick, a USB-C to USB-A adapter, and a printed quick-start card. The app is free, with no subscription and no accounts. International buyers can order via our Etsy listing.