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Make your own cookie cutter? - Page 2

post #16 of 46
8/19/06 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all of the ideas everyone! I've got a couple of ideas and now I can't wait to play! icon_biggrin.gif
Keep on swimming...
If at first you don't succeed...try, try again.
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Keep on swimming...
If at first you don't succeed...try, try again.
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post #17 of 46
8/20/06 at 12:52am
i too make a lot of my own cutters using a template. trace or draw my design on paper, tape it to stiff posterboard then cover it in contact paper and cut it out. they dont stick to my dough or fondant with the contact paper on it.
i have seen the kits online as well and thought about purchasing one but was in a time crunch and decided to use a template. it worked so well i have done it that way several times since.
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post #18 of 46
8/20/06 at 7:45am
I make at least half of my cookie cutters by hand. I use the cardboard/exacto knife method for shapes that I don't think I'll reuse, or if they are really intricate. But I actually prefer to make them out of metal because they are washable and then you can use them forever. To locate the metal, I just looked in the yellow pages and found a sheet metal company. They cut me 50 COPPER stripes for $50. I have found that if you buy a thin enough gauge and work with 1/2" strips - you can shape them a lot easier icon_lol.gif

However, I bumped into a friend from grade school at my 20th high school reunion last weekend. He happens to own a steel company. Wow, never thought I'd be so happy to have a friend in the steel industry! icon_lol.gif He told me that the copper cookie cutters you buy at the store are coated with something which keeps them from rusting, but that the copper I had acquired was NOT, which is why I've noticed rusting on them. Woops! Time to change that in a hurry. tapedshut.gif He said what I should use - here's the big tip - is 304 or 316 Stainless Steel. It's readily available from sheet metal companies. Duh, icon_eek.gif why didn't I figure that out - all of my stainless steel tables are also made of 304 stainless steel!!

Anyhow, I don't know what the costs are for the steel because naturally I'm going to barter w/cookies! thumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gif
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post #19 of 46
9/18/06 at 11:31am
TSCookies-

Let me know if your friend wants to sell us the Stainless Steel Strips. I've looked online for over an hour and can't find a source.

Thanks
Lorri
azlorri@cox.net
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post #20 of 46
9/18/06 at 11:40am
I bought a roll of aluminum flashing in the roofing department at lowes for 6 dollars. The roll is ten inches wide and ten feet long, so I'll get tons of cutters out of it! Just cut strips with tin snips and secure the ends together either with a riveter or heavy duty double sided tape. Voila! For ten bucks all together (tape and aluminum) you can have tons of cutters!

HTH
Diana
If at first you don't succeed, eat it and start all over!


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If at first you don't succeed, eat it and start all over!


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post #21 of 46
9/18/06 at 12:56pm
Diana-

Thanks for the information on the aluminum. I thought about that but I really want stainless steel. I hope I can find a source (that I can actually afford). icon_surprised.gif)
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post #22 of 46
9/18/06 at 1:44pm
Hi AZlorri - What a coincidence, I just ordered the steel today at this website http://www.mcmaster.com. I searched high and low in town looking for stainless steel, but in the end, I've ordered off of the good old internet. The problems w/the steel I could find: the steel wouldn't be thin enough to be bendable & there would likely be burrs from the cutting. The solution is to go with a coil of steel - which is actually much better because then you can cut the strips to the exact size needed. I went with a thickness of .01 and a width of 1/2." I'm crossing my fingers I chose right! In their search box, type in 'stainless steel coil' and you will see they only stock 301 stainless steel in coils. I inquired about 304 - you can get it from them, but it was about $70 more. From what I could read online, 301 should work just fine (let's hope). BrownMetals.com (in CA) is another internet supplier of the coils as well. I paid $96 for 100' plus $4 s/h.

Here's another suggestion - get yourself a 110V spot welder off Ebay and in a split second, you've got a great bond! I got mine for $90. Happy cookie cutter making!
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post #23 of 46
9/18/06 at 2:03pm
BIG BIG THANKS TSCOOKIE!!!

I'll order it too. (But I can't really see me using a spot welder....and my DH is laughing that I'm even thinking about welding!)
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post #24 of 46
9/18/06 at 2:08pm
i tried making them.. and all i ended up with was sliced up fingers.. lol ill stick with ordering them or having my friends husband make them for me
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post #25 of 46
9/18/06 at 2:11pm
You're welcome. I have spent a ton of time researching this and I'm happy to share it with other cc'ers. If you can hold off for a few days until I receive my order - I can let you know if the thickness will be okay. I'll let you know. Really - the spot welder works awesome! But I know what you mean, it's one of those things guys are used to but not us women. When my father-in-law was showing me how to use it, I had to walk out of the room every time he pushed down on it (that kind of electricity scared me!). It took me about an hour to get up the guts to try it myself, but now it's a piece of cake.
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post #26 of 46
9/18/06 at 2:19pm
Cut fingers! I know exactly what you mean ... that was my first experience, too. I thought it was just me because so many people have posted about how great the aluminum works for them. Hey, if it works - that's great. But I just couldn't get the edges to be safe enough for me to handle. Also, stainless steel is the preferred metal by my food inspector, so I'm going w/that now.
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post #27 of 46
9/18/06 at 2:41pm
Nifty. I'll wait to order until you post a review. Because I was a bit concerned about the width. I have a metal ruler here that's about .025 inches thick....and it's *almost* the right thickness. And, it looks like a whole spool is $118 for just about any size (with all the lengths more than 100')
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post #28 of 46
9/18/06 at 5:07pm
My husband made them from aluminum stripping from the hardware store. He cut it to length and bent the shape. To secure the ends he overlapped them and folded them over twice and pinched them together--so far they haven't come apart.
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post #29 of 46
9/18/06 at 5:19pm
birdgirl - I would love to see what what of your cookie cutters looks like w/those folds (esp. since I've had such problems w/aluminum) ... do you think you could post a picture of one? Thank you!
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post #30 of 46
9/19/06 at 3:09pm
Ok - I just received my coil of 301 stainless today (and I just ordered it yesterday!). My feeling about the .01 thickness is that it is workable, but I would prefer something even more bendable. Because stainless is a harder metal than copper or aluminum, there is much more springback to it. McMaster.com is amazing - I called them and they told me they would be happy to send me out a new coil of a different thickness right away. I can return my old coil at my convenience they said. They are a very, very friendly company to deal with. I'll let you know how the .005 works out.
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