Just wanted to share this with those of you who haven't used cake dummies before.
I had my first wedding cake this weekend. It was a 3 tier cake with the bottom 2 tiers being dummies. I had never worked with them before, but seemed easy enough.
I placed a dowel rod in the center of the top tier and drove it down through all the layers and marked the top where I needed to cut it for size. Just like you would do for real cakes, well...when I tried to pull the dowel rod out--it wouldn't budge! In fact, it lifted all 3 layers off the cake board!! I had to hammer it all the way down (through the bottom board) and use a nail set to get it to the right level, then my DH sawed off the excess from underneath!!
Are you not supposed to dowel dummies? I assumed you did to prevent shifting, just like a real cake. I guess you have to measure the dowel from the outside!!
Just thought I'd pass that along. Hopefully it'll save someone else from having that problem! Oh, and the cake turned out great (I need to figure out how to post pics)! I'm so glad to have it over with. I was a nervous wreck. I'm sure you can all relate to the first wedding cake jitters!
The 2 bottom layers were dummies. Do they not shift because they are so light? This bride was trying to cut cost wherever possible, so she opted to pick up the cake. I was concerned whoever picked up the cake wouldn't be as delicate as I would, so I wanted to be sure nothing shifted! Maybe I should play around with a practice cake just to see how secure they are without dowels. Thanks for the reply weirkd!
Has anyone out there ever had a problem with dummies shifting?
Duh, Debi!! 
I use hot glue or royal icing to hold my dummies together. Never had a problem with shifting.
Rae
I never dowel real cakes, let alone dummy cakes.
Ok...what's your secret? Spill it!
I never dowel real cakes, let alone dummy cakes.
Ok...what's your secret? Spill it!
Oh wait! Clarification! That's a little unclear! I was referring to I never run the big rod all the way thru all the tiers of the cake. I DO use the 4" dowel rods to support each real cake tier! Whew!
But re: the big dowel thru all cakes: I never deliver cakes assembled. Once they are set up and assembled, the big dowel down thru the center of all of them isn't needed. Plus I always use plastic plates between all tiers (stacked or pillared) so running a big dowel rod thru a plastic plate is a little tuff to do! 
Ahhh.. I was born a Hoosier, (now displaced) and thought I knew all the secrets that are Indiana! 
You support exactly as I do. And I never deliver assembled either!
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