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This is an 85-year-old drawing downloaded from medalta.org. Medalta Potteries manufactured crocks, on a large scale, from the 1920s on. In this example, I imported the drawing as a canvas in Fusion 360, positioning it so the center of the knob was at the origin point. I traced the lid outline to create a sketch and then revolved that to create the 3D lid. This is part of a project to enable a potter to make lids to fit the old crocks.
No molds have survived so we are going to start from scratch. We will use Fusion 360 and 3D prints in PLA to create a block mold to make a rubber case mold. Learning to draw this rewarded me with some new 3D drawing skills. The geometry of the lip is challenging. It appears the piece will need to be cast with a full top and the lip shape and pouring hole cut manually (as was done originally at Medalta Potteries). I will likely have to create a 3D-printed PLA template as a cutting guide to get the lip contour more correct and consistent than they were able to do. Although not on the original, we are going to include a foot ring for easier glazing and better stability during forming and firing.
These were used in the early 1900s to make crocks up to 60 gallon size in the Medalta Potteries factory in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. The metal barrel was fitted with a wooden base, then lined with paper. Then the clay was rolled up the side and surface finished. The barrel was then dropped down into the false floor and the crock removed.
URLs |
http://medalta.pastperfectonline.com
Medalta Collections Database at PastPerfect - Search for the word "drawing" to see the mechanical drawings for hundreds of pieces |
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Glossary |
3D Design
3D Design software is used to create dimensionally accurate objects by sketching 2D geometry and transforming it using tools to rotate, extrude, sweep, etc. The software generates the polygon surface. |
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