Making complex ceramic tile shapes by 3D printing your own cookie cutters

This was done on an affordable RepRap printer. The red plastic templates were drawn in Fusion 360 and sliced and printed using Simplify3D. A wooden block was used to press these cookie cutters into the clay. The plastic wrap made sticking a non-issue (and rounded the corners nicely). Commercial bottled glazes were applied to this low fire talc body by brushing (in three coats) after bisque - the rounded corners make brushing easier. The tiles were fired at cone 03. This is an old classic design that I discovered when researching Damascus tile. The toughest obstacle was learning how to use Fusion 360. It turns out that cookie cutters are a starter project for many 3D software packages, there are lots of videos on making them.

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A 3D-printed stamp cut and embossed this clay in one step

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This is about 4 inches in diameter and 5/8 inch thick. By laying plastic wrap over the clay and then pressing the cookie cutter down onto that the nice rounded contours were created.

Magic tile assembles organically, never creating a pattern

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This is the most complex shape known that can fit together organically, without a pattern (dubbed the Einstein tile, it was discovered by mathematicians in 2023). It has six sides of 1 unit length, six of 1÷1.73205080757 and one side measuring twice the latter. Placing the tiles is tricky because it is only logical to seek a pattern, but there is none. One method is to start with a center tile and move outward in a spiral, being ready to backtrack and place them upside down when a piece cannot be fit. The tile shape is a product of connecting four identical irregular pentagons - each made by cutting a regular hexagon into three pieces. To achieve the maximum precision, 3D print multiple cookie cutters and let them stiffen and shrink in the cutters. To round the upper corners use stretch wrap) when stamping (print cutters in both orientations if doing this). Tiling a floor or wall will present issues with the number of edge tiles that need to be cut. However, cutting at least some custom edge shapes is practical because only 90 and 120 degree angles are needed.

Videos

Links

Glossary	Ceramic Tile Tile manufacture is the largest sector of ceramic industry. Engineers overcome the very difficult technical challenges of drying and firing defect-free, flat and durable tile. Potters can do it too.
Glossary	Mosaic Tile While traditional mosaic imagery have been created from small pieces of glass or stone, computerized equipment is making it increasingly practical to create the pieces from clay or porcelain
Glossary	3D-Printing Standard 3D printing technology (not printing with clay itself) is very useful to potters and ceramic industry in making objects that assist and enable production.
Projects	Cookie Cutting clay with 3D printed cutters We are finding more and more applications for this simple process of cookie-cutting shapes in ceramics. You won't believe whats possible and how easy it is to get started.

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