Contours vs. Profiles?

[japcas]

Hey guys. I've been using Dolphin cad cam to program my mill. I usually draw up my parts in another cad program, import them into dolphin cad to create the needed contours and patterns, and then move to the cam side to write the program. I've been using the contour function all of the time. What is the profile function used for? Is it used for lathe functions or am I missing something?

[2Bits]

Good question, I came to the same conclusion you did.

[John S.]

Very simply contour is a horizontal surface, profile is a vertical surface.

Say you want to machine a fancy base for a trophy with a curved side or ovolo shape, you would draw the base shape as a contour and the side as a separate shape, like a sectional line as save that as a profile

Then when processing you tell it to use the contour but follow the profile in Z

There are some worked examples in the examples / tutorial folder [ not at my machine at the moment ] that when run give you an example of how to use the two.

John S.

[japcas]

Thanks for the great replies. That sounds simple enough and easy to understand. My machine is only a 2 axis machine, I move the z axis manually. One of these days I'll build a 3 axis machine.