[quote="mamacc"]

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Originally Posted by shelly101

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Quote:

Originally Posted by mamacc

The thing is, that if you go to home depot they don't have those plates with the threaded holes... I mean maybe you can get something similar but not those exact plates. As far as I know they also don't have that crooked pvc piece either. Maybe you can find these things online somewhere.

I know you can't I was just trying to be nice and give everyone some sort of idea of how to do one and the things that you might possibly need not those exact things but something similar. sorry for just trying to help.

Actually you were helpful because I've been wanting to see more detailed pictured of those stands and yours were great....you can really see how it's contstructed. It's just frustrating that those stands are so expensive, and you can't find those exact parts, ya know?? I've heard of people using toilet flanges...but those are so darn huge! And why don't they sell those curved pvc pieces anywhere!?!? I like building my own stands so I can customize them to how I want them to be.

Ok, I used to be an apprentice and the way that the guys bent PVC when I was doing it was using a torch (a simple one) to heat it then bend it to the desired shape. I don't know if that's the "right" way -- they tended to do whatever worked-- but that's how they did it.

I think that is what they must have done because the pvc pipe is a little darker were it is bent.


shelly

Hi IBMoser and CakesbyLJ, I will be at the class in Charleston too. (Just the sculpting one) Look forward to seeing you there.

I want to know how the cakes don't tear apart too!!!

IBMoser if you are who I think you are, we sat next to each other at the Bronwen class in Savannah when we did the sculpted dog!!

See Ya!

I think that is what they must have done because the pvc pipe is a little darker were it is bent.


shelly

oops double post sorry

[quote="sweetideas"]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamacc

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelly101

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamacc

The thing is, that if you go to home depot they don't have those plates with the threaded holes... I mean maybe you can get something similar but not those exact plates. As far as I know they also don't have that crooked pvc piece either. Maybe you can find these things online somewhere.

I know you can't I was just trying to be nice and give everyone some sort of idea of how to do one and the things that you might possibly need not those exact things but something similar. sorry for just trying to help.

Actually you were helpful because I've been wanting to see more detailed pictured of those stands and yours were great....you can really see how it's contstructed. It's just frustrating that those stands are so expensive, and you can't find those exact parts, ya know?? I've heard of people using toilet flanges...but those are so darn huge! And why don't they sell those curved pvc pieces anywhere!?!? I like building my own stands so I can customize them to how I want them to be.

Ok, I used to be an apprentice and the way that the guys bent PVC when I was doing it was using a torch (a simple one) to heat it then bend it to the desired shape. I don't know if that's the "right" way -- they tended to do whatever worked-- but that's how they did it.

I was actually reading about that online recently. And what I found out is that before trying to bend the pvc you fill it with a fine sand and then use the heat gun and bend. The sand keeps the pvc from buckling so you can make a smooth curve. Haven't tried it yet myself though. I managed to get a decent curve just using pvc and 45 degree fittings so I didn't need to.

You can make your own cake plates using regular slip fittings and PVC glue. Just glue the slip fittings to the bottom and top of the cake plates. PVC glue is exceptionally strong.

They also have 90 degree and 45 degree angled fittings at Home Depot.

I've done quite a bit of plumbing in my coral reef aquariums (200 gallons) so PVC is a familiar friend. I am going to try to build one of these on a small scale (3 cakes) and see how it goes.

Cakepro ............do post when you succeed.

Mamacc - thanks for the sand tip. I will give that a try with some of the scrap pieces of PVC we have. I'm a little familiar with pvc pipe, too, but from dealing with plumbing problems . Guess that makes me a plumber's friend of sorts - ewwwwwwwww!

Hi, Just wondering if anyone ever figured out what keeps these cakes from tearing?

For Courtney's final cake in the Last Cake Standing, the two sets of stair-step cakes had angled supports/pipes run through them. The pipes were off center in the cakes so the weight of the cakes was heavy to one side. The cakes kept falling to one side so much that she had a hard time keeping the cakes positioned the way she wanted.

Why didn't the weight of the cake pulling down against the pipe just tear a hole in the side of the cake?

Has anyone else done one of these cakes where the cake is over a support that is set at an angle, with the support run through the cake off center so there was more weight to one side than the other?

If so, what prevented the cake from tearing?

I "tivoed" the episodes an after close inspection there's like a pvc pipe in the hole.

Thanks. I saw that pvc pipe too, but since that's just more pipe to pull through the cake, I think there must be something in the cakes (boards for each layer, etc.) that keeps the cake from falling off the pipe.

Hi, this is Francois, and I build the caddy wampus stands. I just wanted to post here to answer a few of your questions. If I some how forget one you really wanted to know, just remind me.

Tearing- The cakes don't tear is for a couple of reasons
1. the angle is not extreme enough to cause a lot of pull
2. when stacking the cakes on the stand, the cake should be on a cardboard with a hole in the middle and the cardboard should be taped to the plastic plate. We have had much success with this method, even when delivering.

Bent pipe vs. angled fittings- I know that some people like to use the PVC elbows to construct stands like these, but I shy away from them because of the angle. I bend my pipes to a much slighter angle than 45 deg. I tried to find that the effect that it gives is ample while still being user friendly. If you should decide to bend your own pipe, do so with caution, PVC, when heated to a certain temp will release toxins that can lead to angiosarcoma, which is a deadly liver cancer. For this reason I recomend using a heat gun (industrial strength hair dryer), and not a plumbers torch.

Plates- I use a plastic sheet product to make my plates, I like it because it is dishwasher safe and you can tap threads quite well into it. The big downside to this material is the cost, around $300 for a 4'X8' sheet, plus it needs to be cut on a cnc router table. You can of course use wood and flanges, which I have done in the past. I prefer the plastic because you can sterilize it, unlike wood, as well as put any sort of food product on it, unlike flanges. The flanges are galvanized, and when they come in contact with acids (like lemon juice, or honey) they will leach out zinc into your food, which can lead to heavy metal piosoning. This can be avoided by using ungalvanized, or black iron, flanges, or by simply wrapping the flanges with plastic wrap.

I hope this takes some of the mystery out of the stands. Happy decorating

Thanks, Francois, for taking the time to answer the questions.

If you were doing a cake that had the support way off center like Courtney's in the last challenge of Last Cake Standing, would you use another board between the layers--thus having two supports to keep the weight from tearing through the cake.

I know the cakes in the challenges are pretty firm so maybe this technique wouldn't work too well in the real cake world.

You and Bronwen do a great job in the challenges.

Thanks again.

Wow Francois! That's a lot of good info!

And thanks for all of the pictures Shelly!

Hi Francois.. Thanks for the response here~! I just wanted to tell you how excited I am to be taking your class in Charleston... I am in route now and anxious to see you, Bronwen, and the other CC'ers who are taking the class also....... See ya'll on Sunday..

Thanks for sharing this information - it's very helpful!

Thanks Francois! They actually have the stand on Caljava in stock again. I also thing that Francois is so hott!

i'm sooo glad i found this thread. i have had a bag of pvc fitting and glue sitting on my bar for the last 4 days, lol. the angled pieces are ONLY made in 45 or 90 degree angles so if you want something else you have to bend it yourself. the blow torch method is the correct way to do it, i prefer to leave that part up to hubby if you do it though, you should make sure you have plently of room to hold the pipe, the smaller the piece you are working with, the more likey you are to get hot melted plastic on your hands.

as for the plates, you can use a $10 sheet of plywood. if you'll notice in between the 2 fittings there is a space that the board will sit between. you will have to measure how thick the gap is because i havn't checked yet, but the pieces don't actually screw all the way together like you would think, so it would be better to have your board the same thickness as the space so as not to leave room for movement...(my 8 month old is chewing on the piece right now, lol) anyway, and you should probably get at east 1" pvc for the stand.

...there's my 2 cents btw, if you don't want to bend the pvc you can actually use a straight pipe and cut a oval hole in the center of the board which will also make the board tilted

my husband and i have been working on this thing all week. it did NOT look that hard in my head i also accidentally gave him the wrong size circle for the middle board. so will you guys please take a look in my photos and tell me how i can fix it? the customer liked it, but it didn't look too great to me. it should be the 2nd photo in there. i would really apprecitate some advice on this one! how do you disguise the boards?

This is a great thread, I have never worked with PVC and am looking for a new "project" I am not as lucky as some of you ladies having a "prince" around to build! LOL LOL
So please keep your ideas coming...or PM if you wish...I don't mind!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks

Dolce
Toronto, Canada

WOW!! Great info!!

Thanks for all the great info!!

wow.. can't wait to try my hand at it..

thanks I need to try it too

rylan=funny

good to know

Jodi