Leah, I can't thank you enough for those wonderful directions! ***looking for a kissing/hugging emoticon****

I recieved my plates yesterday and know exactly what you mean about the centering.

Susie, I got square plates and they fit fine...not sure what happened to yours

Now, I can't wait to build my cake, which is this coming Friday. I'm VERY excited about the possibility of cake success and less anxiety...almost too good to be true. LOL

[quote="crazy4sugar]
Susie, I got square plates and they fit fine...not sure what happened to yours [/quote]

I was told by the oasis people that the Item I posted below the plates will not work with the SPS columns. The plates are page seven here :
http://www.oasisupply.com/Products/Products.asp?CategoryID=65
they are down a little over half way.
Product ID: W302-1004
Product Name: PLATE 7" SQUARE
Unit Price: $2.50
Qty: 1
Ext. Price: $2.50

Product ID: W302-1047
Product Name: PLATE 11" SQUARE
Unit Price: $4.15
Qty: 1
I'm thinking that these don't even go down INTO the cake.
This is what customer service wrote to me:
No they are not the right columns for those plates. In fact Wilton is discontinuing the scalloped square plates. They are coming out with smooth edge square plates, next month.
You have to use the Bakery Crafts columns with their square plates.
IF any one has 4" bakery craft columns, pm me.
Susie

Breaking the Oasis code, when an item number begins with a W, assume its a Wilton product. When an item number begins with BC assume its a BakeryCrafts product. I've been told by people who have used both Bakerycrafts and Coast that those parts are not interchangeable either.

So you need some 4" columns? Of course I have some. I buy 20 bags at a time. PM me with your personal info.

Can someone post a picture of what this system looks like? Or is there a picture on the web somewhere? I am trying to imagine this and can only come up with those columns that are tapered at the end that you push into the cake and place a plate on top. Is this it?

Oh definitely not those unstable Wilton tapered columns. blarg. If you go to www.BakeryCrafts.com and do a search on SPS a picture will come up, but it may not make a lot of sense either.

Leah,
Thanks! I just PM'd you.
Well at least I will be able to see why SPS is so neat after I use the BakeryCraft ones too.
Appreciate it,
Susie

Yeah, my square plates are Bakery Craft; I'm always wary of interchanging brand names

OK, just to clarify--SPS is a system of interlocking plates and columns.

Maybe this question has been answered but..... what is the need for the multi piece columns? Do the original style from BC work the same as the multi piece? Leahs you are the expert here but your description doesn't mention the multi column set do you us the original or the multi? BC seems to be great but what made you choose this brand? Price, quality, ease of use or...?

Pfeil & Holing have a similar set they are a wholesaler like bakery crafts but I think their prices are a bit better? P&H have a new sets out this year that are very classy solid acrylic columns in gold or silver glitter along with spiral & twisted variety. Love them! So if you need a column cake instead of stacked these are my first choice over the hideous old fashioned Wilton or the plain BC! www.cakedeco.com

I love sps systems in fact my favorite so far is from a Ebayer that was selling off the last of their cake store. The system has square notches instead of round were the plates & columns meet while the rest of the column is round . Any ideas what brand these may be? They work very well for me because they can be sawed to the needed size with little scoring marks the bottom of the column just like the bakery crafts columns, actually they look like BC with the exception of the square notches. My cakes are never the same size, one week they may be 4 1/2 the next they could be 6 in tiers so it's nice to be able to saw to size.

The multi piece columns is used when you need space between your tiers (not stacked). My cakes are exactly 4" high, so the GC-4S works perfect for the stacked cakes. If I need separation between the tiers, I go with the multipiece.

I use an Agbay like Leah. She's much busier than I and has the deluxe version, I just have the regular one blade version. I just baked a couple of cakes tonight. Bake them in my 2" Magic Line pans, level them to 1 13/16'" for buttercream, 1 3/4" for fondant, then torte them in half, about 7/8" each.

It's so much easier to just make the cakes exactly the same height, plus they look so much better.

To quote myself:
To make a cake with separations, just use taller legs. The legs come in 9" lengths and a multi-piece leg that can be 5", 7" or 9" depending on the number of extensions you use. You push the legs down thru the cake, creating air space/separation between the tiers. No plate will be sitting on top of the cake.

I choose this system for several reasons:
-the peg on the plate that grabs the cardboard above, I believe makes this system superior to Coast.
-cost
-sturdiness
-ease of use

You can certainly saw the SPS columns to size for a 6" tall cake tier. Just order the longer columns and they are scored in 1/2 inch increments for ease of cutting and measuring.

Thank you for explaining the multi vs original, I have used various sps so I understand the concept. The multi piece system just seems odd when you can cut at the score marks, it makes more sense. Bush & Coast are 2 I use most but I will give BC a try. It does still seem to scary to transport a finished stacked cake, are you relying solely on the peg to hold the cakes in place? I trust this works but just surprised! I am a little transport shy since I did have 1 cake disaster when cut off by a biker & had to slam on the brakes to keep from turning him into a frosting streak! We always assemble on site.

Vdrsolo you did make me laugh too... I didn't mean my tiers were different sizes, but different each job This week I did a 6 inch cake next week might be only 4 since each job is different We do completely custom work so we need columns that can be customized too.

I'd love to know more about this system and love the idea of it, but when I tried looking on bakery craft you have to be a business. Bummer!

SPS is available from oasis supply also.

Ignorant one here...what's an agbay please?

The Agbay is the best, most fabulous cake leveler on the planet.

And I get one...........?

www.agbayproducts.com

It is awesome!

Thank you gonna look right now.