I can't seem to figure out why i can't get my cakes smooth and its driving me crazy. I started with buttercream and just couldn't seem to get a really clean shrp edge, so when i covered it it wasn't looking smooth.

I changed to a smbc and the upside down method and and I LOVE IT!!!! My cakes have never looked so clean and smooth before and when i cover them in fondant they look great.

Now it comes to stacking. I have used wooden dowels and bubble tes straws. I like using the straws because they are easier to trim. It seems like after I stack the cakes they start to get airbubbles under the fondant and buldge around the middle of the tiers. I am at a loss of what I am doing wrong. HELP!!!!!

Not sure about what is going wrong but I have seen and read about using small pin holes (needle) to poke into the fondat to allow air bubbles to realease from the cake, they say that the holes are small enough not to see and you can cover them if need be with decorations. HTH

Are you allowing your cakes to settle after you crumb coat them and before you put on your fondant?

I was under the understanding that cakes that will be stacked, need to be leveled, torted, filled and put in the fridge (prior to frosting/adding fondant) with some added weight on top such as tiles or books. This should help the cake settle and any bulging will happen in a time that you can still fix it. Works for me. I'm unsure of the air bubbles in fondant as I mostly use buttercream. HTH
Fedra

Cakes do NOT settle in the fridge.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-633571-newest.html+trick

Air bubbles, this thread, page 3

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=721979&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=newest&&start=30

Does breaking the seal between the cake and cake board make the cake more apt to slide on the board?

I love the idea of using the agbay to level the frosting on the top of the cake!!

"Breaking the seal" just means putting the knife tip in maybe 1/2 inch. The bulk of the cake is still firmly on the cardboard.