measuring cam lobes

Cams cannot be measured accurately at all by that method. If you want something accurate by "backyard" standards, you need to cut some V blocks from wood, set the cam on them on the journals, put a dial indicator on the base circle of the lobes and gently rotate the cam in the blocks.

Cam grinders can and do put lobes wherever the hell they want to on the core. This is why you cannot just mic a lobe from base circle to apex and get it right. They'll likely come up different every time.