The stray dogs group is making dog biscuits to raise $ to help the street animals find medical care and homes.
We need to modify our cookie cutters, to be able to cut multiple biscuits at a time, and/or to add holes punched down the center of the biscuits so they’ll cook to done in the center.
So we need to find someone who can help us modify them. I can do much of the work, but lack the tools or skill to do small spot welds.
Anybody?
Thanks!
What kind of metal are they? Does it need Oxy-Acetalene, Arc or T.I.G. welding?
For a cookie cutter? Just go to any auto shop, they’ll usually have an Acetylene setup and will run a quick weld for you…
They’re going to be using copper, which I don’t quite understand why. Steel is cheap(er?). They’re going to need some special tools or a very good oxy-acet welder/solderer(sp?). I’d recommend food grade stainless steel bent to shape and tig welded for anything touching food.
Thanks all! Ok, here’s the deal: the group has already purchased some doggie-bone-shaped cutters, which are simply a flat 5/8" strip, shaped like a bone, and spotwelded. A couple are thin stainless (cheap), 
and a couple are thicker, of copper (more expensive, but they seem to be much higher quality). 
The cutters are difficult to use for volume production, since they lack a good wooden handle 
atop them for exerting pressure and rapid stamping. E.g., 
Time is money. They tend to cut into your hand slightly too.
Also, the thick dog biscuits tend to not bake to done in the center, unless they have 3-4 holes punched down the center too.
So I’d add three nails thru the handle down thru the cookie for this. Cheap.
SO> we really need to either make some custom cutters from scratch, or modify the ones we have.
IF we can find someone to help us make them from scratch, use stainless, shape them into dogbones (in two different sizes), attach an handle and nails coming down from the handle to make the center holes, then we’re doing well. If we can get this done so one stamping motion produces 2, 3, 4, etc. cookies, even better.
We are doing this for charity and have a low budget, so if anyone can help with this, that would be awesome. Especially if anyone is good with bending, crimping, spotwelding, etc.
Is there any way we could impose on someone to help us get these made, perhaps as your contribution to helping the animals? If not, that’s okay, the advice is still appreciated. I’ll follow up on it more later this week.
Cheers!
K
Someone had mentioned a bike shop that could do tig, and now I can’t find that info in the thread. I was going to ask for more info on how to find said guy…
If it was me, I’d solid rivet them on, which I’m quite happy to help out with as I have my aircraft tools here. The main reason is Rivets are stronger and can join disimilar metals easily, and are easy to do.
I find the easiest way to make stuff on the cheap is to find something similar and modify it.
Do they cookies have to be bone shaped tho? Here’s an idea: Mix up the dough and roll it out into a flat sheet. Then use a pizza wheel cutter to make rectangular, triangle or square cookies. That way you can make 100s in a flash and you can easily adjust the thickness accordingly to sort out the soft center problem.
I know they don’t look as cool as boneshaped biscuits, but DB I’m sure you could make up a cool paper insert to go inside the bag with some propaganda info on it also (animalsintaiwan.org contacts details, tips for animal care, re-order info)
Cool! We have one on which the spot welds failed, and it just needs repair. But I’d also like to add a strong handle to help with stamping; and if we could rig up 2 or 3 cutters adjacent on one handle to stamp multiples at the same time, that would be even better. I’ll PM you on meeting to do this, thanks.
Yeah, the bones are cute; plus, when we start making people cookies, the bones will help distinguish the two. Your idea of speed is good, but we’ll probably do something like that for the people cookies; another way is to roll a log of dough and then slice off the cookies; this ‘cut cookie’ method, acc. to vw, is the fastest. (She has a Master’s Degree in Cookies.)
I went to a local baking supply store on Min Sheng E Road Section 2, probably one of the biggest and best in town, and stocked with all kinds of baking needs. They will also custom make whatever we need. Boy, was I in for a ticker shock when I told them what we were looking to buy. For them to shape and weld together three cookie cutters (good grade stainless steel) would cost NT$2500 ! Modifying this unit to include small vent hole-makers would add another NT$500. They told me it wasn’t the materials, but the labor. But that’s NT$3000 for one unit. I was looking to order 2 units each of small bones and big bones - that’s a total of NT$12000 ! I will research further into this matter and ask another store to get another quotation. Also I’ve been told by some locals that the store just overcharged me when they heard my funny Chinese - perhaps, but it ain’t going to be cheap to have the cookie cutters custom-made. Can somebody give us a better idea, please ?
Oh, no! Now that tyrant truant will know how much he can charge us! 
Let’s just hope he still works for beers. 
[quote=“Stray Dog”]Oh, no! Now that tyrant truant will know how much he can charge us!
Let’s just hope he still works for beers. [/quote]
Ha ha, due to the distance thing I have given DB some detailed riveting instructions for him to try. If that doesn’t work I’ll do it no problem.
Making them should be easy enough but the trick is to find the material (metal). I’ll have a sniff around out here and see what I find.
Truant, you’re like Hendley, that James Garner character in The Great Escape. From here on, your AnimalsTaiwan.org codename will be
‘The Scrounger’. 
That would make Dragonbones ‘The Forger’. 
vw found the custom cutters too expensive but that was a request for a fancier version. I’ll try repairing and modifying the ones we have now, and vw will check out getting some simple cutters made for about $300 each. I’ll also look around my area for proper stainless steel strips and when I get time will try my hand at making some cutters. We’ll need more cutters as our operation expands. We’ll be expanding cookie making to include next Tues & Thurs (May 24, 26) at 6:30pm, in case anyone can come help make them. We need volunteers, and will also need more volunteers to help us pass out DMs and sell cookies at a booth Asiaworld is letting us set up all weekend long, every weekend from June 24 to July 10 just outside of Asiaworld Starbucks, Nanjing/Dunhua. Please come volunteer!!!
Thanks for your feedback re: cookie cutters. I found a place in DiHua Jie that can do the job for a reasonable price (one unit for under NT$1000) and fast too. We’ll use it tomorrow in our cookie-making, and if it works well, we’ll order more from this place - for more of the same, the store may be more amenable to giving discounts.