◆ Clay

Cloud vase slip casting mold

A four-piece plaster mold for slip casting a four-lobed cloud vase that eases into a round mouth.

Make your own plaster slip-cast mold
3D render of four printed plaster-mold housings for a four-lobed cloud vase, orange and blue shells beside charcoal bases, with a white fired cloud vase in front
Clay ~5097 g Pro early access

A soft cloud vase 93 mm across and 128 mm tall once fired: four rounded lobes swelling out from the foot, fading into a round 40 mm neck at the top. It holds 257 ml to the brim. Puffy, wavy and cloud shapes are one of the big ceramic trends right now.

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Made with our plaster mold generator: a printed housing per plaster piece, you pour the plaster, and the plaster is the mold. The lobes are the hard part, and the page's seam check shows it: 6% of one piece stuck at two pieces, 9% at three, and nothing at four once the lobes were turned to put every seam in a valley. So it is a four-piece mold, poured through the neck, with the mold cut 15% oversize for a 13% shrinkage slip.

The zip carries the four bases, one shell and clamp set that fits all four, the vase as its own STL, the tool's print sheet and a recipe file for the generator.

Shown as a 3D render of the printed bases and shells with the fired piece in front, not a photo.

What you need

4
  • About 970 ml of casting slip to fill the mold (most of it pours back out)
  • Pottery plaster (No. 1 Pottery or similar), enough to fill each housing to the top of its shells
  • Mold soap or petroleum jelly, and strong rubber bands or mold straps
  • A pencil to number the plaster pieces

How to cast it

8

  1. Print the 4 bases and the one set of shells and clamps, no supports. The sheet in the zip asks for 4 or more walls and 40% gyroid, because the shells get clamped.

  2. Stand the two shells round the first base, slide the clamps over the ends, and run a thin bead of petroleum jelly along every seam. Brush mold soap over the printed master slice and the natch sockets so the plaster lets go.

  3. Sift pottery plaster into water (about 100 g of plaster to 70 g of water), let it slake for two minutes, mix for three, then pour it up to the top of the shells and tap the housing to lift the bubbles.

  4. After 30 to 45 minutes, when the plaster is warm and hard, unclamp, lift the shells off and ease the plaster piece off the base. Move the same shells and clamps to the next base and pour again.

  5. Let the plaster pieces dry for about a week somewhere warm and airy, until they feel light and no longer cool to the touch. A damp mold barely takes water out of the slip.

  6. Band the 4 pieces together with the natches seated, stand the mold mouth up and fill it to the top of the neck with slip. Top it up as the level drops.

  7. When the wall is 3 to 4 mm thick (usually 10 to 20 minutes, check at the rim), pour the slip back out and leave the mold upside down to drain.

  8. Once the cast loses its shine and pulls away from the plaster, trim the rim, open the mold and lift the piece out. Dry it slowly to bone dry, then bisque and glaze fire.

Print details

169 h 50 minPrint time
~5097 gFilament
8Printed parts
188 × 251 × 106 mmSize (W x D x H)
All print details
Print details
Cast materialClay
Printed parts8
Size (W x D x H)188 x 251 x 106 mm
Print bed needed252 x 177 mm, 106 mm tall
Filament~5097 g
Layer height0.2 mm
Infill40%
SupportsNot needed
DownloadZIP: 4 bases + one shell and clamp set (8 printed parts, STL) + vase master (STL) + print sheet + recipe
Added2026-09-25

Pro early access until October 25, 2026, then free with any account.

Make your own plaster slip-cast mold →

Made with the free Plaster slip-cast mold generator. Upload your own model and get the same kind of mold built around it, in your browser.

Free for personal use. Selling the pieces you cast needs a commercial licence (Pro or Founder); passing on the file itself is not permitted on any plan. Full terms.

New to casting? Read the plaster mold guide.

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Questions about this design

Why was the cloud vase turned before its mold was made?

The plaster pieces lift off along fixed directions. Straight out of the modeller, two lobes sat across seams, and the page's seam check said about 7% of one piece would catch. Turned 35 degrees, all four seams fall in the valleys between lobes and nothing catches, so the vase master ships already turned.

How do I drain the cloud vase without a thick bottom?

The lobes make pockets near the foot where slip lingers. Drain it upside down, then turn it a quarter turn every few minutes for the first ten so each lobe empties. A thick, heavy bottom is almost always slip that set while draining.

What is the best finish for the cloud vase?

Matte and satin glazes suit the soft shape, and a speckled clay body looks good bare on the outside with only the inside glazed. The lobes catch the light, so the shape reads even in plain white.

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