◆ Clay

Espresso cup slip casting mold

A two-piece plaster mold for slip casting a 114 ml espresso cup. Print the housings, pour the plaster, cast.

Make your own plaster slip-cast mold
3D render of two printed plaster-mold housings for an espresso cup, orange and blue shells beside charcoal bases, with a white fired espresso cup in front
Clay ~803 g Pro early access

A handleless espresso cup 66 mm across and 62 mm tall once fired: a small rounded foot, walls that open out toward the rim and a soft flare at the lip. It holds 114 ml to the brim, a double espresso or a cortado with room to spare.

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Made with our plaster mold generator. You do not print the mold itself: you print a housing for each plaster piece, pour plaster into it, and the plaster is the mold. A turned cup like this splits cleanly in two, so it is a two-piece mold, open at the rim, and the mold is cut 15% bigger than the cup so a 13% shrinkage stoneware or porcelain slip fires back to this size.

A cup this size is the classic first slip cast: quick to fill, quick to drain, and a set of six comes out of one mold in a weekend. The zip carries the two bases, one set of shells and clamps that closes round both, the cup as its own STL, the tool's print sheet and a recipe file to open it in the generator again.

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 240 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 fettling knife or a sharp blade for the rim

How to cast it

8

  1. Print the 2 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 2 pieces together with the natches seated, stand the mold mouth up and fill it to the brim 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

26 h 50 minPrint time
~803 gFilament
6Printed parts
157 × 175 × 94 mmSize (W x D x H)
All print details
Print details
Cast materialClay
Printed parts6
Size (W x D x H)157 x 175 x 94 mm
Print bed needed176 x 142 mm, 95 mm tall
Filament~803 g
Layer height0.2 mm
Infill40%
SupportsNot needed
DownloadZIP: 2 bases + one shell and clamp set (6 printed parts, STL) + espresso cup 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

How many espresso cups can I cast from one plaster mold?

A well dried plaster mold gives dozens of casts, often a hundred or more, before its surface wears. Between casts it needs to dry out again: two or three casts a day is a good pace, more if you have several molds going.

Why does the espresso cup mold have no pour hole?

Because a cup is cast through its own mouth. The plaster stops at the rim, you fill the mold with slip up to that rim, and after the wall has built up you pour the rest back out through the same opening.

Can I cast the espresso cup in earthenware instead of porcelain?

Yes, any casting slip works. The master allows for 13% shrinkage, which suits most stoneware and porcelain slips. An earthenware slip that shrinks less, around 8 to 10%, gives a cup a few millimetres bigger, which for an espresso cup nobody will notice.

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