Large cookie-cutter 3D-printed in four pieces

These four sections were glued together to make a larger one. Now it is possible to quickly precision-cut the shape for making my pie-crust mugs. Later I re-printed these templates on a better 3D printer so the inner vertex holes cut out much better.

Related Pictures

Incredible Mother Nature’s porcelain

A hand-built mug made from 100% of a naturally occurring porcelain

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This is made from 100% of a natural clay (3B) from the Whitemud formation in Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan. To make this body, which I call MNP, I slake and slurry up the raw clay lumps, sieve it to 200 mesh and then dewater on a plaster table. I rolled the plastic clay into a thin layer, cut it into a cross-shape using a 3D printed cookie-cutter, drape-molded it over a plaster form and then slip-joined the seams. It fires very dense and strong (to zero porosity like glass!). It holds together well and joins well with its own slip. Although not super plastic, it is smooth and fine-grained like a commercial porcelain body. I add 1-2% bentonite to make it more plastic when needed. It can be rolled extremely thin and yet does not warp in the firing! This mug has a weight-to-volume ratio of 2.08 (the weight of water it will hold compared to its own weight).

By hand-building your mugs you can cut the weight in half!

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The one on the left weighs 176 grams. The right one is thrown and weighs 376 grams. Of course the body needs to vitrify well to be strong enough to produce a durable product. But not vitrify so much that the weight of the handle pulls the rim to a oval shape during firing.

A parametrically-drawn cookie-cutter for slab built mugs

A 3D printed cookie cutter showing parametric measurements, four of these are glued together

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You may already know that I am very excited about the potential of 3D printing for creating aids to making pottery. I glue four of these together to create a cookie cutter for producing slab-built mugs. For different sizes of mugs I need cutters with different geometries. This is quarter-cutter and it has been drawn "parametrically" using Fusion 360. That means that certain aspects of its geometry (two lengths and one angle) can be adjusted by simply changing the parameters (in the Parameters dialog). The drawing then adjusts automatically. Other aspects are fixed (e.g. the right-angle, the pucker-preventing hole cutouts, the height, and thickness). Parametric design is revolutionary, it fits my try-it, adjust-it, try-it-again way of working. And, I can label these printed quarters according to the size, in this case 45-25-108.

Videos

Links

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.
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.

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