Monthly Tech-Tip | No tracking! No ads! |
Available as a Product on the Downloads page
When full of balls and glaze, this Royal Doulton ball mill weighs about 80 lbs. If efforts to pour it out don't cause a hernia, the slurry ends up spilling everywhere as the balls come out with it! Trying to stop the balls with my hand ends up spilling more. The answer was to 3D print two pieces: A spout and a ball retainer (upper right). The bar and screw that normally hold the lid on work well to keep the spout in place. For multiple batches of the same glaze, the jar can now be poured right from our table-mounted rack.
This was drawn in Fusion 360, but it would be doable in any other CAD program capable of revolving, extruding and lofting. I first printed the green ring and flange (without the spout) to achieve a good fit into the neck the jar. This took several prints. It became evident that a better seal is possible by scaling it back enough to make room for a wide rubber band stretched around it. Your jar will, of course, be different than this, so you'll have to custom-design for it. On cation: If printed using PLA filament, don't wash it in hot water or it could deform.
Available as a Product on the Downloads page
Glossary |
Ball milling
A method of grinding particles in ceramic powders and slurries. A porcelain, metal or rubber vessel filled with pebbles tumbles and particles are ground between colliding pebbles. |
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. |
Buy me a coffee and we can talk