laypath
SLIP-CASTING MOLDS, GENERATED IN SECONDS

Turn anything into a mold you can cast.

Claypath reads the half cross-section of an object, or takes in the 3d object you give it, and generates a set of 3d-printable mold parts for making plaster slip casting molds.

Generate a mold See how it works

Five molds a month, free — no card needed. Nothing you upload is ever stored: your file is deleted the moment it is read.

1

Take the profile.

One vertical slice through the object — rim to base, centre line to outside edge. Save that curve as an SVG path. It is the whole description Claypath needs to build a mold around.

Half cross-section, saved as SVG
2

Claypath builds the mold.

Upload the profile or CAD file and the geometry gets solved for you — inner mold, outer walls, all ready for plaster to be poured into them. What comes back is a set of printable solids.

SVG, STL or STEP in — STL or STEP out
3

Print the parts.

The mold parts come off a desktop printer. They are not the mold — they are the form the plaster is cast against, and they come apart once it sets.

Desktop FDM, no supports on the mating faces
4

Cast the plaster.

Clamp the printed parts together, mix pottery plaster and pour. When it sets the printed shell comes away and you are holding the working mold. The interlocks mean the pieces keep plaster from leaking.

The printed parts are the form — the plaster is the mold
5

Cast the piece.

Fill the plaster mold with slip. The plaster pulls water out of the clay standing against its walls; pour off what is left, wait for the piece to release, and start the next one.

Then do it again, and again
SCROLL TO PLAY
00:00 / 00:32
FORMATS

What goes in, what comes out.

YOU BRING
SVG
A half cross-section of the vessel. One or three-part mold options.
STL
A whole mesh model. Hollow vessels can optionally be filled before the split, so a scan or a sculpt works. Three-part molds only.
STEP
Exact geometry, never tessellated. Three-part molds only.
CLAYPATH RETURNS

One-piece mold

SVG in

An inner mold and two outer halves, closing round a ridged collar on the slip well. Plaster fills the gap between them.

Three-part mold

SVG, STL or STEP in

Three 120° wedges, each on its own natched casting plate, plus walls and locks.

A potter turning a cup over in her hands at the bench.

Bring an idea. Leave with a mold.

Upload an SVG, STL or STEP file and the parts come back ready for the bed.

Generate a mold