I am making a 3D Pirate Cake and have a question on the interior support of the cake. I have 4- 1 inch layers that I will be carving. My question is should I put dowels/cardboard between in the first 2 layers or can I stack 4 layers with filing and the cake will be ok and won't compress. Any advice is welcome.

Anyone out there?

From my admittedly limited experience and from what I have read, you should place a cake board with dowels every 4 to 5 inches of cake. Most cakes are two 2" layers torted to make 4 layers of cake with three layers of filling. If your layers are only 1" high, you should be able to stack 4 without a board in the middle unless it is very unusual. Maybe a stacking expert will buzz in soon -

I have seen both Duff and Buddy stack 4-4 inch cakes before they put a cardboard in.I would dowel it with wooden dowels to keep it sturdy though...