HI all, I see so many nice stacked tiered cakes that have tiny borders, my problem is when i stack using a palette knife and fingers under board, there is always smudged icing or cracked fondant, lots, around the bottom. What is the secret to stacking with minimal tearing along bottome or cracking on fondant, or dents from fingers around??

Borders get applied post-stacking.

if you can have your cakes nice and cold it helps a LOT! If stacking on site, just be prepared to go back with a little palette knife and piece of paper/paper towel and fix any little smudges. It's also helpful if you don't put your dowels all the way down into the cake and let the weight of the next tier push them down gradually (gives you ample time to get fingers out of the way!

ok, thank you, I guess I will try refrigerating them a while before stacking, I just dont put any of my cakes in frig, so maybe that is my problem, when i lift them to put on top of cake with spatula the fondant cracks a bit, or buttercream gets smooshy..

and yes im aware that border go on after the fact, lol, i was merely stating some people have tiny borders or none and the bottoms are so perfect looking.........

This thread from yesterday might help:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-7066162-.html#7066162

yay very helpful! i need a cold cake!, man now i need bigger frig!!