One of the most exciting intersections of digital fabrication and clay is the ability to create custom texture molds. I recently made this tile of my cat, Casper, using a 3D printed negative mold.
The workflow is surprisingly simple. I started with a photo and used a lithophane generator to create a negative mold. I've experimented with a few tools—while ItsLitho offers deep control over the depth and settings, I've found the MakerWorld Lithophane Tool is often the best choice for a quick project. It just works, requiring very little fiddling to get an ideal result for printing.
For this tile, I set the depth to around 1/4 inch (5-6mm) and printed the mold in basic PLA on my Bambu A1. From there, the pottery steps begin:
- Roll a slab of clay to about 3/8 inch thick.
- Dust the mold with corn starch to ensure an easy release.
- Press the clay firmly into the mold (this may take a few tries to learn the right pressure).
- Trim the excess and carefully pull the tile out.
After the tile dried, it went through a bisque and glaze firing. I used Amaco Seaweed glaze, which does a great job of breaking over the textures. I'm planning a full series of these, and the same technique works perfectly for custom studio logos or more abstract patterns.