Cookie Cutter Bender

There have been a lot of ideas on the HB about cookie cutter this and that; we generally at some point want some flat object represented in a cookie or cracker. I'm thinking silhouettes.

While bending some flashing for a pump house, I realized that bending a thin metal strip into a variety of shapes is really not that mechanically complex. It can be accomplished with a minimum number of brakes and presses, and rollers. Such technology already exists in the sheet metal industry.

A small version of this could be rigged to bend metal strips into cookie cutters. The input could be from computer software or from a standard card that you draw on and the bending machine reads and executes. The program would be made to bend tabs on the ends of the finished cutter; these would be crimped together to close the cutter. The kit would come with plastic "C" channel to press onto one edge of the cutter to protect the user.

Thousands of shapes could be shared over the internet, and limitless puzzles and themes could be produced. If you took a large picture and broke it down into it's constituent shapes, intricate cutouts could be made from a field with the right set of cutters. Imagine a cathedral with stained glass windows executed in colored doughs, etc.