The individual pieces produced with the plastic fittings are assembled by mould casters into working moulds. With a coffee pot, for instance, as many as 11-15 mould pieces are put together. Bodies, spouts, handles, lids and knobs are produced individually and then assembled (affixed). An item made up of several individual pieces must be produced as quickly as possible and assembled when it is still in a damp state. Before the pieces are affixed, it is important to make sure that the seams where individual moulded pieces will meet are "clean", i.e. not noticeable to the eye. Finally, the entire piece is cleaned once again with brushes and sponges and any irregularities caused by the plaster mould are reworked. The porcelain can also be cut or carved so long as the mass is still damp. A great deal of skill, ability and patience is required for this. With the Schinkel basket, for instance, roughly 3000 precision cuts are made by hand.