v6 Beer Bottle Drawing

Fits standard swing top stoppers.

3D print this, pour in plaster and you're ready to start slip casting! I recommend doing the small size first. My previous work on this mold assumed a smaller 3D printer (making it necessary to print flanged PLA mold sections that clip together). But larger 3D printers are now common (e.g. Creality K1, Bambu X1/P1, Prusa Core1). This makes the CAD work much easier. This CAD drawing is parametric for height, diameter of the body, the plaster thickness and neck height (for the full bottle set body=160mm, neck=96). Neck vertices are proportional to its height, so the shape resizes well. This uses my standard clips and embeds. The top and bottom are filleted and chamfered to permit the longest possible mold to fit on the print bed diagonally. This is for prototyping and making a few molds (since it prints with artifacts (which will appear as wood grain), later I will create a hybrid that employs a plaster model with a 3D printed base plate. The PLA mold prints quickly, it has a hollow back side, permiting easier removal with a heat gun. The bottom inside is chamfered, which helps assure that the thin side wall is well connected to the base. This mold has no spare (on purpose), it employs a pour spout, making the mold shorter it producing a better lip.

Need a stoneware slip casting recipe? L4768E or L4768H are a good choice. A glaze recipe? How about GA6-B (or similar). Go full DIY with this.

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3D printed case mold for making ceramic beer bottles

Related Pictures

A 3D Printed Mold Spout

Better Than a Spare for Slip Casting

Available on the Downloads page

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.

Glue one of these on top of your slip casting mold (using slip) and enjoy the many benefits. These are intended for people who make their own molds using the 3D printing techniques taught on this website. Among the advantages are the following:
-Less mess.
-Smaller, simpler molds (they don't need a spare).
-Overhung lips, more precise lips.
-Visible indication of casting progress.

DIY natches, spacers and embeds in a plaster handle mold

Natches, spacers, embeds in a plaster handle mold

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.

This is our third-generation alternative to the use of traditional mold natches (like the red ones in the photo). Here is what you are seeing:

Right: A 3D-printed case mold for a mug handle. Clips (retainers) have been inserted from the bottom side. An embed has been pushed down over the one in the rear.

Center: The plaster mold created from it. The embed at the rear is ready for inserting a spacer (the nipple of the other half will it into that). A natch has also been inserted into the embed in the front. These fit tight enough in the hole that glue was not needed here.

Left: Spacers have been inserted into both embeds. A standard natch fits into the one in the rear and one of our natches fits into the one in the front.

Soon the CAD drawing for these (natches, spacers, embeds, clips) will be available on digitalfire.com.

Getting the measurement right for the swing top stopper mechanism

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.

To predict bottle neck diameter at the holes I measured the gap on all of the ones I have and got an average to work from. Then I 3D printed several iterations of the neck and settled on one that enabled being able to snap on the metal stopper fitting without stretching it. That being said, the wire assembly is bendable and can be adjusted for size, so it can be made to fit a range of neck diameters.

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Beer Bottle Master Mold via 3D Printing
A project that took several years of failures and blind allies and is finally coming together - so much simpler than expected!

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