I'm making a two-tiered Cleveland Cassata for a wedding on Saturday and to avoid any possible weight/stability issues, I was wondering if I could use the Push Pillars instead of dowels? Are they easily cut down? Does anyone have any experience with this method? TIA.

I wouldn't cut them down... use hidden pillars instead, or SPS in the correct height that you need.

Here are some plastic dowel rods from wilton that can also be cut down to size. I've used these in the large cake bases for my 4 and 5 tier cakes.

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3127EA-475A-BAC0-5F98F056B4A6DC92&fid=BCA9E6A3-475A-BAC0-53B406C7C7B7E983

I use the plastic dowel rods by Wilton and love them! I feel so much more comfortable with them than I did the wooden dowels. My hubby bought me a pair of PVC pipe cutters from the hardware store (less than $10) and I can cut them down with ease. Better yet, I cut them straight.

Edna uses something similar to the Wilton hollow plastic dowels---hers are cardboard but are used the same way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvaCSW78ybc&feature=player_embedded

I love Edna's tutorials!

I used the single-plate and cut spiked pillars all the time! I didn't like using the hidden pillars because they took out such a big chunk of cake as opposed to the spiked pillars that only made a small hole.

Luckily I had a hubby with a wood shop, so I would use his band saw to cut the bottoms off the short pillars to the size I needed. I purchased the brand from CK Products that were mostly straight with a round head, rather than the square rams horn head on the Wilton ones.

If you don't have access to a band saw, or a jigsaw, I think I recall using a small hacksaw on occasion.