3D Printed and Slipcast Test Tiles

This is a quick post to share the STL files for my recent project. I’ll do a full process post at some point when I have enough time to do it properly.

In the meantime, this is a brief summary of the process. Essentially I wanted a test tile that would tightly fit the 50ml Sterifeed bottles I use for glazes tests, as the more volume the test tile displaces the less glaze is needed for a full dip. The Sterifeed bottles are round, so there’s no realistic way to wheel throw individual tiles that fill the space, and making a plaster slipcasting mould seemed to be the best option.

Making effective plaster moulds by hand is an artform in itself, and one that I had no desire to put the time in to learn. But there is a way to jump straight to the finished mould form, by using a 3D printer to make the mould shape and casting from that. This is a process I learnt from watching Curt at Hammerly Ceramics, and he helped me figure out the process myself too.

The way it goes:

1. Design the test tile in Blender.

2. Use the 3D model to reverse out the shape from a block and produce the mould shape (still in Blender).

3. Resin print the mould shape.

4. Cast the 3D printed mould in silicone to get a mother mould.

5. Cast plaster from the mother mould to get identical duplicate mould pieces.

6. Cast slip from the plaster moulds.

Yes, this is totally overkill for a test tile, but it’s also a perfect item to learn the process on. Plus there are a few advantages to these test tiles:

• I can fully dip the tile in 30ml of glaze (around half that of my thrown tiles)

• I can have multiple textures per tile without any additional effort (eg, the Impulse dots)

• They are neat enough to keep as ornaments

So, all that said, here are the relevant STL files. In this case, 100% was intended to be the bisque size for dipping. The amount you’ll have to allow for shrinkage will vary with different clays. I went with 112% for the mould, but scale according to your slip. The mould is designed to tesselate with itself, so two prints of the same design make up both sides. I intend to make a second mould with a different texture, but the overall mould block will stay the same.

Basic test tile (smooth sided) at 100% size

Test tile with example textures at 100% size

Mould design at 112% size

Sterifeed 50ml Bottles

Disclaimer: I’m pretty new to 3D modelling and had never used Blender before this project. The files above are what I used, but that doesn’t mean I did them right. There may be issues with them, make sure you check before committing to a print.