Profiling is essentially using the engraving machine to cut through the material for the purpose of making cutouts or shapes.
Examples of profiling for cutting out shapes would include irregularly shaped plates or badges such as circles, ovals, stars, shapes of states, etc. Examples of cutouts would include shapes in instrument panels for lights or switches.
Generally profiling is done with a parallel cutter which is a straight-sided tool or a profiling cutter which is a narrow angled conical cutter (usually 15° side angle). If it is necessary to have perfectly straight edges, then it is necessary to use a parallel tool. If it is permissible or desirable to have a slight angle, then the profiling tool is a much better choice since it is stronger, less expensive and easier to use.
The first thing you need is to create a cutter path program that gives the desired shape and takes the cutter dimension into consideration. For cutting out shapes for badges, you need to add the full cutter dimension to both the width and height of the image. For example if you were cutting out a rectangle that was 2" × 3" with a .090" cutter, your cutter path would be 2.090" × 3.090". For inside cutouts you would deduct the cutter width from each dimension, so for the above rectangle the cutter path dimension would be 1.910" × 2.910".
When profiling, the best method is to use double sided tape and stick the plate you are profiling to a backing plate which can be a piece scrap material. Set the cutter depth so that it completely clears the top plate and extends a few thousandths into the backing plate. Engrave the plate using several passes and increasing the depth until the piece is cut completely through.
Another method of profiling which eliminates the necessity of the backing material is to not engrave completely through the plate, but leave a few thousandths of material so the shape doesn't break loose. You can then break the piece out by hand, but you will have to trim off the excess material.
