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Pls Help Me Stabilize my Sitting Spongebob - He's kinda thin

post #1 of 9
7/4/12 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
I'm making a Spongebob cake where he is sitting. It's 4 layers (8 inches tall 4.25" inches deep) and I stacked them with a cake board between the 2nd and 3rd layers and put plastic dowels in them. He's in the freezer now and I plan to place him on the cake drum tomorrow and decorate.

Here is my question. He's awfully skinny so I read here that I should put a long wooden dowel through the top to keep him from toppling over and I was prepared to do that tomorrow. But I tested it out and put the sharpened wooden dowel in the cake drum and it's not really stable??? What kind of cake drums are you using where the dowel actually sits firm in the cake board? I have the Wilton half inch cake drum. The dowel could actually poke all the way through it and can wiggle a lot. Is that still going to hold the cake up once I put it together tomorrow?

I'm willing to cut a piece of plywood and maybe screw the dowel in there but I think the dowel may split so I'm hoping there is a better way.

Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 9
7/5/12 at 5:58am
The thinness may be your demise. I have attached a pic of the prettiest spongebob cake I ever saw. It may be from a cake central person. I don't know since I found it on google.
\\ It looks deeper (thicker) and I think that adds the stability. Either way I would not try this without dowels screwed into the cakeboard. Stability is something you have to do ahead of time. Once it starts to lean, you can't backpeddle to fix it.
LL
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post #3 of 9
7/5/12 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynne3

The thinness may be your demise. I have attached a pic of the prettiest spongebob cake I ever saw. It may be from a cake central person. I don't know since I found it on google.
\\ It looks deeper (thicker) and I think that adds the stability. Either way I would not try this without dowels screwed into the cakeboard. Stability is something you have to do ahead of time. Once it starts to lean, you can't backpeddle to fix it.



@Lynne3 You're so right, that's a beautiful Spongebob. It definitely looks deeper than mine so I know for sure I have to do the screwed in dowel now. I was even wondering if I could make a chair for him to lean against since I would have to use screws anyway.

I definitely can't imagine sending him out the door wondernig if he'll be wobbly so I have to try my best to stabilize him.

Thank you sooooo much!!
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post #4 of 9
7/5/12 at 7:52pm
Maybe you could insert 2 long pointed dowels instead of just l in the middle.

Just tap the dowel until you hear a "thud" sound and then tap a couple more times. You don't want the dowel to pierce all the way through the drum.

Good luck.
Linda
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Linda
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post #5 of 9
7/6/12 at 12:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakingangel

Maybe you could insert 2 long pointed dowels instead of just l in the middle.

Just tap the dowel until you hear a "thud" sound and then tap a couple more times. You don't want the dowel to pierce all the way through the drum.

Good luck.



@Bakingangel I'm curious to know if everyone is using the Wilton cardboard drums like I had or the foam ones because it just wiggled like crazy when I tapped it in. It was about halfway through the drum but I could tell it would have pierced it easily. So I ended up using plywood with a regular cake board glued to it and I screwed the dowel in from the bottom and it turned out perfect. For some reason I couldn't grasp the idea of how a dowel would keep the cake up from tilting and then I realized it's because of the boards in between the layers. I kept thinking the dowel would just cut right through the cakes at a sudden stop but it can't because of the cardboard and dowels in the layers.

I will attach a pic after I finish and I feel confident (still with a prayer) that he will make it home in one piece when the customer picks it up tonight.

Thanks all!!
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post #6 of 9
7/6/12 at 12:33pm
CandyB - The Wilton 1/2" drums are good. I like to use 1/2" foam core under each cake tier including the base tier and then I use a 1/2 " drum under the whole cake. It sounds like you solved the problem! Good for you! Can't wait to see a pic.
Linda
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Linda
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post #7 of 9
7/7/12 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakingangel

CandyB - The Wilton 1/2" drums are good. I like to use 1/2" foam core under each cake tier including the base tier and then I use a 1/2 " drum under the whole cake. It sounds like you solved the problem! Good for you! Can't wait to see a pic.



@Bakingangel

Great info on the foam under the tiers. I have to get some of that for the next time because I worry so much about stuff like that. Thank you so much for the info!!

And Spongebob turned out great. I realized after the fact that I put his nose too far down but it was too late to change it. And I originally made him with fondant spots on him but the spots made my skin crawl so I took them off LOL (I suffer from Tripophobia - fear of multiple holes)..

I liked how the cheeseburger came out more than I did Spongebob. I was too lazy to color more buttercream to make ketchup so just mustard had to do LOL.

Here is a link to the Spongebob cake:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2362168/spongebob
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post #8 of 9
7/9/12 at 1:51am
Thanks for posting a picture. I'm so happy everything worked out well for you. You did a very good job! Your cake is so cute. thumbs_up.gif
Linda
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Linda
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post #9 of 9
7/9/12 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakingangel

Thanks for posting a picture. I'm so happy everything worked out well for you. You did a very good job! Your cake is so cute. thumbs_up.gif



Thank you and once again, I appreciate all the help!!
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