Dear Do-It Man: My mother wants to reproduce and make copies of an old cookie mold. It is made of plastic and is shaped like a mold. It's not just an outline cookie cutter.
I'm at a loss to know what kind of company might be able to help us.- H.P., Centerville.
Dear H.P.: There are companies in the Salt Lake Valley that fabricate plastic molds but they don't come cheap.
Tooling up to reproduce the mold could cost $5,000 to $10,000 or more. Even non-permanent tooling to make a few hundred cookie molds could cost $500 or more.
"Tooling up," in this case, refers to making an object the exact shape and pattern of the cookie. The object is called a "tool." The tool is the object from which the reproduced plastic molds would be shaped.
In the case of your mother's cookie mold, which is plastic and could not stand up to the wear and tear of being a pattern, a blueprint would have to be made. From that an exact copy of the mold would be fabricated. From that the tool would be made.
To illustrate how expensive this can get, we spoke to a company in Salt Lake City called Mouldings. It designs and sells plastic molds for food and crafts. Nearly 3,000 kitchen, craft and gift stores nationwide carry its products. According to Dee McBride, vice president of international sales for the company, it pays $5,000 to $10,000 per tool. And it takes up to three months to make the tool for one mold.
To add further complications, the plastic used in molds for food has to be FDA approved.
Mouldings is best known for its cereal treat molds including a bear, a duck and a rabbit. Its latest cereal treat molds include a cat and a fish. It also sells seasonal molds for holidays.
Record player needs fixing
Dear Do-It Man: I would like my record player fixed so I can play my records. I have a Sears Silvertone stereo/radio phonograph, model #528-31206003, serial #Z04140012. I believe I bought it in 1972 or '73. Where can I get parts and who can fix it?
- Mrs. S., Manti.
Dear Mrs. S.: The big question is whether parts are available and before we could answer that we'd need to know what's wrong with your record player.
In the absence of such vital information, we can only suggest that you take it to a trustworthy repair shop that specializes in electronic equipment, get a diagnosis, a determination of whether parts are available and an estimate of how much it will cost you to have it fixed.
We telephoned the Sears Service Center at 560 S. 100 East in Provo, phone number 377-8021. The repair technician wasn't there at the time, but the receptionist suggested that you bring in your record player. If parts aren't available, you don't have to pay for the diagnosis.
To our knowledge, the Sears Service Center in Provo is the nearest company service center to you.
The receptionist said that sometimes they can and sometimes they can't get parts for record players as old as yours. She believed that Sanyo made that particular model.