FrankenCutters
Homepage
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Photo Galleries of some copper cutters we have made:
Multiple cutters
Special cutters
Greek Letter Cutters
Dogbone cutters
Grid-cutters
Lighthouse cutters
Sets of cutters
60's Party cutters
Photo Galleries of other products we have made:
Cast metal stamps
Stainless steel cutters
Candle items & trays
Bracelets
Earrings
Pins made of copper
Useful Info:
How to clean copper
How we make cutters
Workshop & tool photos
Other Links:
Technical Services, etc...CookieCutter Collector's Club
FrankenCutters Company History
A little background...All my life, I've been "making stuff"...woodworking, metalworking, electronic things, amateur radio equipment, photography, computer stuff, etc... Some years ago, when I first met my wife, Lori, I learned she collected cookie cutters. Since I had a lot of soldering experience, I started making a few cookie cutters for her. My first cookie cutter was a "dog biscuit" cutter. That Christmas, we made dog biscuits as gifts for a few of our friend's dogs (and for our dog Spot). The biscuits must have worked, as none of the dogs complained!
Things really accelerated when Lori joined the national Cookie Cutter Collector's Club. What a great bunch of people! All the members, and the Tinsmiths, were so friendly and full of encouragement. After making cutters for Lori, we decided we could sell some and bring in a few bucks. Lori and a few others started the "Heart of America Cookie Cutter" regional group, meeting at our house at first. We sold cutters at those meetings, and then we had a "Vendor" table at the convention 2 years ago in Ohio, and had pretty good success there.
Of course, the really big move was leaving the "normal" job at a big corporation and relocating to Ludington, Michigan, in September of 1999. Cookie cutter making went to the "back burner" as the house renovation was the main priority (we really wanted to have heat by winter... etc...). But things progressed well, and we had another "first". We had a vendor booth at the Ludington Harborfest in June of 2000. It was a lot of fun, and we learned something about what sells and what doesn't. A very special bonus this time was being able to ride a bicycle 2 1/2 blocks from the vendor booth back home for a Coke!
On the day after the Harborfest, we left to drive to Denver to attend the CCCC Convention in Denver. We had a vendor table there, and did pretty well again. We ran out of a lot of items, and Frank was pretty busy each night making more cutters and earrings in the hotel room.
The mail order side of the business started picking up. And we are also started getting custom cutter work, for professional bakers, professional cake decorators, makers of buttons, soap, and ceramics. This growing part of the business was very challenging and enjoyable as well.
Around 2006 or so, we started making custom cake pans out of
aluminum, welding the sides to a flat base. That has become a
pretty regular item, it's interesting the wide varieties of shapes
customers ask for. It takes a very special holding fixture and
some tricky welding, but it's a fun challenge.
During the big financial mess of 2008-2010 (or so?), the amount of
business, amazingly, didn't really drop off much at all.
Probably due to a lot of small businesses starting up, and needing
some "tools" to make their new products. It gives me a great
feeling to think FrankenCutters products have helped people do what
they do.
Presently (2012), the business has evolved to mostly making a
variety of "tools" for customer's use, such as multiple cutters for
bakeries, dog treat companies, ceramic craftspersons, soap-makers,
and cake decorators.
All in all, a great little business to be in, especially due to the great customers associated with it!