Clay 3D Printing a Top Surface Over Infill with 1mm Nozzle, 0.5mm Layer Height

This is an unnarrated process video showing how several top layers can be printed in clay over an infill pattern structure. In this case the nozzle diameter is 1mm and the layer heights are 0.5mm. The material is a white earthenware clay. I designed and built this custom printer. It uses a mechanical clay feed system and a motorized auger in the print tip, which is a cake frosting nozzle. A Duet 3D control board is the "brain" of the system. All motors are NEMA 23 and the linear motion system is leadscrew driven wheeled carriages on extruded aluminum rails.
I love to hear feedback, good or bad, and suggestions for videos about clay/ceramic 3D printing.

[@BreakingYTown]

It's official...I like watching CLA being printed more than PLA

[@patprop74]

Really right lol maybe because its slower and brings us back to the beginning of how 3d printing used to be lol

[@stephentrenta3514]

Same

[@UltraGamma25]

Lol CLA. Nice pun

[@davidz2016]

It looks tasty no joke . Wow .

[@f.d.6667]

Totally agree!

[@kareongames]

its like watching frosting being perfectly applied on a cake with a reeallllly tiny nozzle for frosting aplication

[@emiliosagichnicht7521]

Holy shit he should do that

[@emiliosagichnicht7521]

Print like a Figure out of frosting on top of a cupcake

[@TomLauerman]

I'm not really a cake person, but I'm sure someone is working on this. I am using frosting tips as a print nozzle tho.

[@chriss1914]

I thought that what is was until I read the description 🤔

[@BrightBlueJim]

Hm. Cake frosting. How about sugar frosting with very little fat. This may be a good material for making models for lost wax (lost sugar) investment casting. The "frosting" is dissolved with water.

[@leeperry7068]

Holy crap... clay through an FDM printer... why did this never occur to me? So cool!

[@patprop74]

that clay seems to have no problems with infill overhangs, i would have thought them to be more droopy. cool stuff

[@3DJapan]

Guess it depends on how wet the clay is.

[@TomLauerman]

Exactly, consistency is the key

[@danilolattaro]

amazing results! Finally someone producing stunning prints not in vase mode

[@TomLauerman]

Many Thanks! As someone who is not a vase maker, but very engaged in working with clay, I have been working pretty hard for years to explore all other modes.

[@DHGV]

I'd love to see some tests done to the cured end result. Like how brittle is it, what's the layer adhesion like. Can you sand the edges smooth? Cool video, thumbs up!

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks for your interest, I'm definitely going to explore these topics. For now, making a bunch of short videos, but hopefully informative.

[@greghill2368]

This nozzle looks like it would be perfect for non linear printing.

[@TomLauerman]

That's a great suggestion. I haven't explored that, but perhaps in the future.

[@enterusernamefuck]

I think you mean non-planar printing

[@pteppig]

@@enterusernamefuck both, since it has high clearance and needs less space than a normal big printing head with a heatsink, it can print high objects one after each other

[@greghill2368]

Tomatoe tamatto, :) you get the point. I'd love to see plastic printers take this type of angle towards the nossel, it seems like we've just scratched the surface of NLP ;)

[@court2379]

@@greghill2368 Heat wouldn't conduct down the thin cross section well and your plastic and nozzle would get cooled by the fan before exiting causing adhesion problems or clogging. Perhaps it could be compensated for, but would definitely cause some issues.

[@faridstein3485]

This is super cool to follow, please keep posting. Did you consider having a flat area at the end of the nozzle? This could maybe help with ironing or squishing if the extrusion in general

[@TomLauerman]

This video is zoomed in a good bit, so the actual surface finish is somewhat smaller/finer detail, so I haven't felt compelled to use a smoothing tool on it thus far, but it is an interesting suggestion.

[@JonS]

@@TomLauermanmight be interesting to use a slicer with an ironing function (like Cura), aka Neosanding. This goes over the top layer at 45° with the same z height and a very low flow rate.

[@UltraGamma25]

@@JonS 3D printing is cool

[@TomLauerman]

@@JonS I'll give it a try. I use Prusa Slicer, which has this feature.

[@GEOsustainable]

Fantastic! I would love to see more on the construction of this.

[@TomLauerman]

More to come!

[@everythingquads]

Its so mesmerising watching 3D printers at work, and this is no exception, great work.

[@TomLauerman]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@RegularOldDan]

I'm incredibly impressed with the quality of the print!

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks so much, it's been a journey, and continues to be.

[@RegularOldDan]

@@TomLauerman I have so many questions, like what is involved in firing something that is hollow but "closed" and your development process. Do you have any documentation that you made along the way?

[@TomLauerman]

@@RegularOldDan Sure, check out these two videos if you are interested : kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJStiaSJecish9E

[@NicuIrimia]

Just in case you did not try this already: gradual infill option in Cura could make just the last of the infill to be denser and also you could tweak the ironing setting to have extra material just enough to have perfectly flat top surfaces. Also a part cooling fan may work for you in the sense that it might remove just enough moisture from the surface of the clay to make it stiffer.

[@TomLauerman]

I'll look into this, thanks!

[@NicuIrimia]

@@TomLauerman oh, it's just small things. You are welcome and good luck!

[@NicuIrimia]

@@TomLauerman Oh, its just small things. You are welcome and good luck going forward!

[@nevermind1O844]

cool stuff dude! but I feel like ur second to last to layer looks nicer than the top layer itself. maybe get rid of the increased extrusion width for the top layer!

[@TomLauerman]

Will take a look at this

[@14768]

That's because of the angle of the infill. It goes across the field of view instead of along with it so you can't see in to the valleys. This only has to do with your POV, they look very similar.

[@TomLauerman]

@@14768 thanks, I think this is right

[@nevermind1O844]

@@TomLauerman @Dustin Graybill I had a look at this again but this time on my big screen instead of my tiny smartphone. And you're quiet right good sir!

[@garagewizzard]

Does using a frosting nozzle with a steeper or shallower angle affect how the clay squeezes out of the aperture, or is it entirely based on the size of the nozzle diameter?

[@TomLauerman]

Good question, I don't entirely know for sure, and I'm not sure how I could test the hypothesis, apart from having a bunch of custom nozzles made, which maybe I should do. At present however, the nozzle does not seem to be a source of trouble or frustration in the machine.

[@garagewizzard]

@@TomLauerman Thank you for your reply. The machine looks wonderful!

[@somedude2492]

My guess is it would affect acceleration, as the shorter the cone is, the more friction and therefore more back pressure, which has to be compensated by slower accelerations or will result in underextrusion at the beginning of a line and overextrusion at the end of it.

[@TomLauerman]

@@somedude2492 One thing not visible is that inside the nozzle there is an auger screw which helps regulate the flow of material and greatly aids in stopping/starting/retraction. It works very well in practice, even as I have an extremely limited idea of how it is working in theory. So the shape of the nozzle taper may be of limited relevance vs the presence of the turning auger screw.

[@gjsmo]

Is this fired afterwards? How do you fire it without the air pockets created by the infill exploding? Also have you considered spraying them with water afterwards to reduce layer lines? Very cool regardless! Fantastic detail and you've really got the extruder tuned in well, from what I've seen of other paste printing.

[@TomLauerman]

Yes, these get fired, without issue, as long as they are well dried. I have never had one of these objects explode, and I have fired hundreds of them. You can see several fired examples here: instagram.com/tom_lauerman/?hl=en

[@matthewgroves6410]

Mezmerizing!

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks Matt!

[@PhysicalZer0]

very very cool! the only bit I seen that was of concern was on the second layer on top of the infill creating random spikes of clay when it printed on the edge of a clay line. I'm not aware of the flow dynamics that causes it but I wonder if changing the angle that second layer runs at would fix it. In Cura you can set top/bottom layer directions, by default every layer is perpendicular to the one before it i.e. -45 and 45. maybe try -30, 30, 60?

[@TomLauerman]

I'm always tuning, as the process has been evolving for years, I appreciate the feedback. I use Prusa Slicer, but it seems to have very similar capabilities as what you mention.

[@aivkara]

@Tom Lauerman Damn that is just amazing! It's been a long journey, but I think you are now the master. Kudos!

[@TomLauerman]

Many thanks for your interest!

[@richardspicer8253]

That is frigging awsome 👏👏 Would love to see the machine, I've subbed so I go look at all your uploads 👌👍👍

[@TomLauerman]

Awesome, thanks for your interest, I'll show more of the printer and its ongoing development as I go along. You can also see the printer here: instagram.com/stories/highlights/17851002403882271/?hl=en

[@seanlemessurier5934]

I'm curios how these prints deal with firing. Do they blow up more often compared to conventional ceramics?

[@TomLauerman]

I would say they blow up less often: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@TeraSmack]

@@TomLauerman Do you think size has much to do with the success considering said closed pockets? Do you note any distortion / expansion on the walls? On a related note, have you tried leaving a small hole (toothpick sized) for comparison? Thanks this is neat

[@TomLauerman]

@@TeraSmack I don't think size is a factor, having printed with a range of infill patterns and sizes in clay. Also, I have seen no sign of distortion expansion . I have fired objects with small holes in the bottom and also objects with no bottom at all (just open infill). I have noticed no differences between how these objects respond to firing.

[@TomLauerman]

@@TeraSmack There may be microscopic gaps in between "coils" of clay. However, when glazed, utilitarian printed forms still hold water without leaking.

[@Heartadia]

I noticed less warping in the firing process with clay prints. I've only just started my clay printing journey however.

[@TimesWatcher]

Magic Chef just invited the husbands to the party. Husbands: "I could make one of those!" Wives: "oh crap... here we go again."

[@karbonkai]

I wonder if you could 3d print a ceramic designed for use in hot environments. You could make some pretty cool crucibles.

[@TomLauerman]

Yes, technically it would likely be possible

[@karbonkai]

@@TomLauerman that would be pretty cool to see experimented with. With than concept you could create a crucible that also functions as the mold.

[@MitchPleune]

You should try what some people do with plastic to get a better top surface, and use a top skin line width of 60-90% of your nozzle diameter to minimize the line seams.

[@TomLauerman]

I will try this, thanks for the suggestion

[@bagok701]

Try adding in an ironing operation to homogenize and smooth your layers. I know several slicers can do this. I'd be interested in the result.

[@TomLauerman]

A couple folks have suggested this, I'll give it a shot. Keep in mind there's no heat associated with clay printing, which happens at room temperature. But I'll give it a shot and post the result sometime in the near future

[@JohnSmith-mk8hz]

Cool. Have you tried a print using Cura's fuzzy skin mode? That might be interesting. Or it might be a complete mess.

[@TomLauerman]

Haven't tried it, but it's a great idea. I'm using Prusa Slicer, not sure if there's a comparable mode, but could do a print or two with Cura

[@IanBakker]

Are there concerns with the piece exploding in the kiln? I mean isn't that essentially like printing air bubbles into your piece? Will you make a place for them to get out? It makes me wonder if you could use rectilinear infill to create slight gaps throughout the infill to mitigate are pockets and then place a small hole on the bottom to allow the release of build up pressure during firing. Maybe put it on some stands in the kiln so there's no worry about heat slump plugging the hole against the shelf?

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks for your interest! I made a video about this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@IanBakker]

@@TomLauerman very nice. I wish I had known before I asked haha sorry to bring up something you likely get asked a lot.

[@davidz2016]

This would make catering cakes a snap . Dude its pipe the frosting on the print look in to that dude . No joke. Ex pastry chef i hated piping names on cakes but I really good with flowers and animals.

[@TomLauerman]

I mean, we all fall for particular materials and processes. I just like clay the most, even if cakes would be somehow better. Someone out there is building an awesome cake printer, I'm certain of it.

[@kevinjacob7464]

Amazing !! Question , aren't the gaps between the lines a lil too much ?

[@TomLauerman]

Maybe? I mean, it worked - however it is an adjustable thing, the line spacing.

[@kevinjacob7464]

@@TomLauerman Aight cool stuff!

[@mrraimundo130]

I would like to hear more about your feedrates, accelerations and linear advance settings. I am calibrating my SuperVolcano hotend with an 1.2 mm diameter nozzle and so far print quality is quite poor.

[@TomLauerman]

I'd be happy to get into all of that, with the one caveat that there are some big differences between filament extrusion and syringe extrusion. Anyhow, good luck with the super volcano, I want to get one of those for my plastic printer.

[@StevenCookFX]

Great work. Love how you got it going. I would be interested in the mechanics as clay is a thick material. :)

[@TomLauerman]

Many thanks! I have somewhat explored this here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJStiaSJecish9E

[@LeandroSehnemHeck]

Duuuuuide. This is awesome but you finished the video without showing the whole piece!! I am so sad now. Please, next time show the whole print. We beg you. LoL

[@TomLauerman]

Message received!

[@UltraGamma25]

I second this notion

[@Rienck]

Awesome!

[@TomLauerman]

Many Thanks!

[@StripeyType]

Not really a question about the printer itself, but about the post-process: will printed clay parts fire safely? (those tiny voids between extrusion paths are worrying)

[@TomLauerman]

Yes! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@StripeyType]

@@TomLauerman Thanks! Exciting!

[@chinchin1079]

It's interesting seeing it decelerate around the corners, I assume to reduce forces on the steppers due to the weight of the print. Clay printing must be really different in interesting ways. I can only imagine how it extrudes.

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks for your interest. I hope to go into many of these details with future videos

[@overflow7276]

That is pretty cool! I used to work for a High Performance Ceramics 3D Printing Company and we would get heart attacks seeing all those Air cavities without ventilation holes. Our Ceramics would crack if we produced them like this. How do you avoid that? Or are cracks of no concerns for your applications? :)

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks for your interest! I made a quick video about this here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI I'm an artist, so I'm not using the printed objects in an engineering capacity.

[@certified-forklifter]

This is so cool! thanks for sharing! =)

[@ameliabuns4058]

damn it looks beautiful! that acceleration tho!

[@TomLauerman]

I'm a fan of printing slow, even if I get killed in the comments for it.

[@pun.matthias7239]

Would really love to see the whole print, especially the bottom layer. The weight of the print should flatten the layer and remove the lines. Further maybe try to implement the non-planar 3d print into it will be amazing to great better lines and reduce post processing

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks for your interest. The video is zoomed in quite a bit, so layer lines are less prominent than they may appear here. I typically don't do any significant post processing, though it certainly is possible just using hands or simple tools. If you are interested, some images of finished things can be found here: instagram.com/tom_lauerman/?hl=en

[@pun.matthias7239]

@@TomLauerman The result of the print is fantastic, even though it think you can try to hide the retraction point in the slicer, the looks will be improved. Expanding 3d print into different material is fascinating and I would like to see further development in the future

[@braedenday1652]

I wonder how the ironing setting in Cura, Prusaslicer, etc. would affect the top surface finish on clay prints?

[@TomLauerman]

Great suggestion, I haven't tried it yet, but will. There's no heat in this clay printing process, so it may be less effective? I am using Prusa Slicer to prepare these files however.

[@raku2122]

@@TomLauerman the heating helps with softening the layer being ironed...but the clay should not have dried or hardened otherwise in the meantime, right? That way it should be working quite fine ;-)

[@Qui-9]

This is nice. But how does the clay hold its shape while printing vertically? It doesn't appear as thick as hand-moulded. Does it shrink or deform much when drying?

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks for your interest. You are right that printed objects can be a lot thinner than the typical hand formed object (though some hand makers can work thinner than others). The stability of the material has everything to with the stiffness of the clay and its water content. If this is handled carefully, clay can do remarkable things. The shrinking and drying is similar to the shrinking and drying of hand formed objects - potentially problematic but not unexpected or novel.

[@MultimediaCowboy]

As a potter I have been waiting for someone to do this. Especially since the can print houses. Still may have issues during firing with air pockets.

[@TomLauerman]

Welcome Roberto the potter! I've been working with clay (without robot assistance) for a couple decades, so I appreciate your comment. As for the firing, it has worked out well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI As far as houses go, it is a super interesting idea, a company in Italy WASP 3D has done some amazing work in this direction, as has architect Ronald Rael. I'm personally too invested in objects and fine resolution to think of house scale, but I look forward to seeing where others develop that approach.

[@MuhammadWaqar-ni4ne]

Can please tell me your acceleration and Jerk or Jerk factor settings.. And also velocity... The sound of your 3d printer is so good...

[@TomLauerman]

Everything is just set really low, people keep telling me to speed up :) I tinker with the settings a lot, but generally I just get slower and slower with print speed, jerk, and acceleration. I should probably print faster, but at present I'm less concerned with speed. I use a Duet 3D control board, its really great.

[@MuhammadWaqar-ni4ne]

@@TomLauerman thanks... This smooth motion is so satisfacting, I'll try to minimize mine too.. Btw if you increase the speed or the Jerk settings you might get z artifacts.. Thats what I think.. Great job btw..

[@incaroads001]

When my mother (84 and a former art professor) asked me to describe 3D printing, my explanation to her was that it is very much like coil pottery. Now I can show her this. Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, indeed.

[@TomLauerman]

I'm so happy to see this comment! I'm an art professor myself, currently teaching a Ceramics class titled "Computer Aided Coil Building" for which I am making these videos. I hope your mother likes the video, and maybe she might like this one where I try to give some context and explain why, despite having no training in Engineering, I have spent several years pursuing this process as an artist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJStiaSJecish9E

[@incaroads001]

@@TomLauerman This kind of thing is going to lead to some amazing ceramic art in the future and probably some amazing ceramic engineering as well. I went to Alfred university years ago (physics and english) but a lot of ceramic stuff rubbed off on me. This is very exciting stuff.

[@TomLauerman]

@@incaroads001 Thanks so much, I know lots of talented artists who went to Alfred, a special place!

[@flubbernugget888888]

Do you fire it like normal?

[@TomLauerman]

Yes I do, FlubberFace: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@jacksonwhiteley]

Does having all the air inside not cause problems in the kiln, or do you not burn it.

[@TomLauerman]

It has not been a problem as the walls are thin, the work dried thoroughly, and fired at an appropriate speed, I made a quick video about this a few days back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@omaroskeno3314]

This is awsome

[@DL-kc8fc]

Excellent. What does it look like after firing in an oven?

[@TomLauerman]

Like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI instagram.com/tom_lauerman/?hl=en Thanks for your interest!

[@DL-kc8fc]

@@TomLauerman That's beautiful. Bravo!

[@TomLauerman]

@@DL-kc8fc thank you!

[@AudreyRobinel]

hello! Did you try cura's (and now in prusa slicer 2.3 i think) ironing? it does a finishing pass that uses the nozzle to smoth the surface, extruding a tiny tiny amount of material, and squishing it /smearing it to have a smooth surface. I generally removes the print lines from the top surace quite well.

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks, it's on my list if things to try! Cheers!

[@PuckLokin]

What's your feed system look like? I'm imagining maybe a big plunger like a syringe? It can't be a filament... Right?

[@TomLauerman]

That's right - it is a mechanical piston with an auger "assist", two extruders actually, here's a picture: instagram.com/stories/highlights/17851002403882271/?hl=en

[@makersmancave9725]

If you can print clay then all other ceramics are on the table. Would make some interesting engineering applications depending on what additives you put in the clay.

[@TomLauerman]

Indeed! But personally I'm focused on Art/Design applications. I know there is a lot of engineering research around clay printing, in sure some of it already having impacts on various industries. Thanks for your interest!

[@Emily-fm7pt]

Have you tried to fire anything in a kiln?

[@TomLauerman]

I sure have: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@LogicalNiko]

Would depositing powered clay as an infill medium allow you to have increased bridging capabilities (assuming you provide a path to drain the object), or would this mess with the surface finish greatly? Is theirs something else that would fully vaporize in a kiln and not infuse with the clay?

[@TomLauerman]

These are interesting questions I don't have ready answers for but will continue exploring. Thank you for your interest!

[@Bertnijkamp1995]

Why is the jerk so low? I see it decelerates and accelerates a lot on corners. Is there a technical reason for this, or is it maybe limited by the clay material properties?

[@TomLauerman]

Just taking it slow, trying to get a good quality result. I'm not particularly concerned with speed. That said, I should probably go a little faster.

[@Bertnijkamp1995]

@@TomLauerman You don't necessarily have to go much faster, if you want to maintain a good quality. You can reduce the print time already a lot of you go through he corners faster:) The reason FDM printers might go through corners more slowly is because they want to avoid ghosting, caused by the rapid change in velocity direction (and the print head vibrating). However, there the velocity is already high. With your low velocity, I don't thing ghosting will appear. TLDR: I think you can afford to go through corners with the same speed as you go in straight lines.

[@TomLauerman]

@@Bertnijkamp1995 Many thanks, I'm always tweaking these settings and will try and be a little more aggressive with accelerations while keeping overall speed low.

[@Kingboards]

Essa câmera pra lá e pra cá me deixou tonto 😵 maravilha de impressão!

[@AndersJackson]

Wouldn't it be better if the internal support structure would "split up" some layers below and become a tighter support with shorter free space between the support structure. Like usint a "Y" to double the number of support points under the top layer?

[@TomLauerman]

That probably would be better, yes. Will consider this in the future

[@aos7194]

what printer is this and do you need a special slicer?

[@TomLauerman]

I'm using a DIY printer I designed and built and modified over the years. Those printers pop up in some of my other videos. I don't need a special slicer, just special settings within a slicer. The slicer I prefer is PrusaSlicer. Thanks for your interest!

[@Nono-hk3is]

Oh god please tell me you can fire these types of prints.

[@sheepleslayer586]

Made me wanna do some Chip Carving

[@Coyote27981]

Would this prints work as a mould for casting metals?

[@TomLauerman]

Yes! Checkout Jonathan Keep, he has used printed clay as a mold for glass blowing. I'm not personally pursuing mold applications as I am actually most interested in clay.

[@bertybotsbohne622]

THE NEW ASMR

[@TomLauerman]

There's something to this

[@randomrando8350]

Is this still technically digital art?

[@TomLauerman]

Do I get to decide? who decides?

[@randomrando8350]

Maybe it’s both? Maybe since you’re mixing the two it’s technically Mixed Media art?

[@skeeverteats3393]

Surely with all the pockets of air in this, firing it would destroy it?

[@TomLauerman]

I mean in theory maybe, in practice not at all: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@IDCrish]

Hi, do you have information on how to make a setup similar to yours? i would like to start clay printing

[@TomLauerman]

My setup is an ad-hoc one-off that is always evolving, I'm making it up as I go along. However, there are many places to start these days. Check out commercial printers from WASP 3D, 3DPotter, Lutum, StoneFlower, Cerambot. Also open source DIY designs from Jonathan Keep and Bryan Cera have been built by a number of people and one can find good supporting info about them. Relative to those options, my design is costly and complex.

[@nicklasmartos928]

How would I get into this? I'm familiar with 3d printers but not super tech - savy.

[@TomLauerman]

Hello, there are a number of companies that produce printers for clay. These include 3D Potter, Eazao, WASP, Stoneflower3D, and more. The route I've gone is all DIY, not starting with a roadmap or kit of parts. As such its been both expensive and time consuming but also very rewarding. If I were beginning now, I would start with an existing printer design from one of the companies I mentioned. When i started those products weren't available/accessible to me. In many ways this was for the best - but I've logged thousands of hours of work in this project over a span of several years. So much easier to get a jump start now!

[@nicklasmartos928]

@@TomLauerman thank you for the reply!

[@schabingcraft]

Is it possible to fire the piece afterwards or will it crack?

[@TomLauerman]

Yes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@schabingcraft]

Damn, ok that makes it even more impressive....

[@arashrkarimi]

So what happens next? Did you bake it?

[@TomLauerman]

Yes! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@92HazelMocha]

Do a Kickstarter; I think there’s probably a market for a ceramic printing FDM.

[@TomLauerman]

For sure there's a market, checkout WASP 3D, Potterbot, Stoneflower, Lutum, and Cerambot - they are all in that space. My approach I don't think would be marketable because the cost would get way out of hand as I've got loads of custom metal parts. Also I never stop tearing the machine apart and rebuilding. But those are my problems. There are pretty good machines out there and something of a market.

[@SinanAkkoyun]

Increase the flow rate at the last layer but not for the outer most perimeter and voila!

[@TomLauerman]

Good advice

[@fischX]

Is it possible to burn it?

[@TomLauerman]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@fischX]

@@TomLauerman oh that's extremely promising, so why isn't in more popular?

[@TomLauerman]

@@fischX Well, for one thing, you can make a lot more money selling highly refined plastics than you can selling ordinary clay. But more importantly, it is really hard to print clay, and I'm not showing the struggles in this video, just the successes.

[@Dumbc0mment]

At the end of the video it was like coming out of a massage session

[@Timsturbs]

wont it sag under its own weight during printing?

[@TomLauerman]

No, clay is very stable in the right consistency

[@eduardoHMYT]

Did you fired it?

[@TomLauerman]

Yes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@eduardoHMYT]

Great job!

[@douglasrohman6191]

I remember at one point there was a type of filament that was sculptable after printing... Still hoping someone develops something similar or I could just build a clay printer?

[@douglasrohman6191]

Do you have any videos of you going over your design and build, this is amazing.

[@TomLauerman]

I can offer you this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJStiaSJecish9E Many thanks for your interest! This effort remains a work in progress

[@douglasrohman6191]

@@TomLauerman Thanks you.

[@NicksStuff]

Wouldn't you have a slightly better surface finish with a (slightly) lower nozzle?

[@TomLauerman]

Not sure what you mean by lower?

[@NicksStuff]

@@TomLauerman Closer to the bed when leveling, so that the level will slightly (again) squish every layer. Like a 3D printer printing plastic

[@TomLauerman]

@@NicksStuff so, a smaller layer height then, yes that would increase resolution

[@NicksStuff]

@@TomLauerman No no. I really mean a closer nozzle for the same layer height. The nozzle would squish the ceramic paste a bit, the lines wouldn't show as much on the Z plane

[@TomLauerman]

@@NicksStuff now I'm back to not understanding. I'm sorry

[@OPA_bastelt]

looks like little underextrusion ?

[@TomLauerman]

Yup

[@tentative_flora2690]

Was this gcode produced with sclic3r?

[@TomLauerman]

Yes! Prusa Slicer to be exact, but Prisa Slicer is a fork of Slic3r

[@tentative_flora2690]

@@TomLauerman I recognized the slower speed of the perimeter, the infil, and just overall sound of the printer. Reminded me of when I was staring at my printer as it ran for hours.

[@ColdFuse96]

No fan?

[@TomLauerman]

no fan, no cooling, no heat, no fumes

[@Alien.404]

How does one bake/fire these clay creations? I imagine they would fail catostophicaly in a kiln

[@Jennifer.N.Presley]

i dont know bout u but whin i do clay i do end up put some suports in them if u cant see in side

[@TomLauerman]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@f.d.6667]

If this was a 399.00 print head for, say an Ender 3 or a CR-10, I'd buy it right away .... I think the new wave of affordable, swappable print heads would be a great platform to use in this context.

[@TomLauerman]

If I was making a product (I'm not), I'd never hit that price point with my design, and this print head weighs more than a whole Ender 3, lol. That said, there are some companies out there making clay printers that are more practical than my ever-evolving design. Check out WASP 3D, 3DPotter, Stoneflower 3D, Lutum, and Cerambot.

[@f.d.6667]

@@TomLauerman Hey, thanks for the reply and the info about commercial variants. Yeah, I have seen how sturdy your design is and I guess it has to be, considering the forces needed to move the heavy-ish components at reasonable speeds. I was more thinking of tiny objects like jewelry etc. ... very impressed with your work!

[@michaeld954]

Can you print a ceramic mold

[@TomLauerman]

Technically, yes. However, for me personally clay is the material I ultimately want to use, so I am not likely to explore this too much, but it seems like it would work. I know Jonathan Keep has explored using a printed ceramic mold in conjunction with glass blowing, for example.

[@marcus_w0]

Why do you make to outside surfaces first? This seems counter intuitive.

[@TomLauerman]

In preparing the file you can set how many outside surfaces, called "perimeters" to make. You can also set them to be printed before or after the inside parts. The way I have it set up is pretty standard for extrusion printing, but sometimes I'll do 3 perimeters, if I want a thicker exterior wall. Hope that answers the question! Thanks for your interest!

[@JonS]

Cura’s fuzzy skin function might be interesting with clay printing.

[@TomLauerman]

Great idea!

[@paulerlic5393]

what firmware for the board?

[@TomLauerman]

It's a Duet Board running RepRap firmware

[@lotuschile]

how is it fed?

[@TomLauerman]

It's a giant syringe with an auger "assist" in the print head. I (maybe?) explain this a bit here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJStiaSJecish9E

[@oktopus1539]

We need a benchy!

[@TomLauerman]

Noted

[@wizworm]

Are you using any retraction in your extruder?

[@TomLauerman]

Yes

[@MetalheadAndNerd]

How do you retract a semi-liquid?

[@TomLauerman]

@@MetalheadAndNerd clay really resists being extruded, so that's the hard part, convincing it to flow. It's always happy to stop extruding at a moment's notice. So it's less a retraction and more of a pause in extrusion, if that makes sense.

[@MetalheadAndNerd]

@@TomLauerman Interesting. Thanks. 😀

[@factory4.0]

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@terranovarain6570]

You could make a very efficient flue design with that even incorporate a worm to heat water for a rocket stove have it in two parts the top part with another worm could use to heat your tent with a little fan radiator and sebeck generators place outside bottom juice for the phone and drone to remove to cook on top

[@TomLauerman]

Thanks for the suggestion! I come from an art/design background, but it's always interesting to think of more practical applications for printed ceramic.

[@terranovarain6570]

@@TomLauerman your fancy triangle infill caught my attention really cool machine 😎

[@cyberstar251]

The motors do not sound happy.

[@TomLauerman]

It may sound insensitive, but I want the clay to be happy, even at the expense of the motors. I hate to be so callous towards these motors, who really do work hard and don't deserve this treatment.

[@cyberstar251]

@@TomLauerman i can respect that, also the creaking is a bit worrying.

[@penguinmit]

I feel like it should be spiral instead of stripes

[@TomLauerman]

I couldn't agree more, I think this is a great suggestion and I'll run with it.

[@elardramirez4132]

Is the sound anoying?

[@TomLauerman]

My family can confirm this, yes.

[@gr8ful4tori1]

Idk what the intent is here. You cannot put that in a kiln. Too many air pockets it will crack.

[@TomLauerman]

I have put hundreds of these objects in kilns without issue: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2nQpYt4bdGKpJI

[@gr8ful4tori1]

@@TomLauerman that is seriously impressive.

[@lesptitsoiseaux]

Hi! This is so awesome. Could we talk business? It’s for my company. I’d like to buy prints off you. Kindly let me know cheers from Vancouver!!!!

[@TomLauerman]

I'm awful, terrible, horrible when it comes to client-based work. I have the worst track record on this. No company would want to collaborate with me in this regard. For better or worse, I'm destined to make what I make, and more or less ignore the marketplace, which is likely why I am in education and not production/sales. The good news is that there are 3D printing services such as Shapeways that produce all kinds of things in all kinds of materials for all kinds of people. Apologies!

[@jimg3466]

Print me a house or two plz!

[@MaximilianonMars]

Very cute profile picture! 🦆

[@jimg3466]

@@MaximilianonMars thanks mr bear

[@bebet0099]

Wrong Extrusion width

[@TomLauerman]

Possibly!

[@felix-ht]

looks a bit under extruded

[@TomLauerman]

Could be! One thing that's nice about zooming way, way in on this process is that you can really see what's going on. I'm not sure if this is slightly under-extruding or if the sagginess of clay (verses the tautness of plastic) is creating a little extra space between extruded lines. Thanks for the insight.

[@michaels3003]

@@TomLauerman , why is different depending on the direction of the lines? It's like it uses two different spacing values.

[@TomLauerman]

@@michaels3003 Could it just be the camera angle? I'm not sure. It is not intended to be two different values. This is in real life a small object, so some of these issues are far more pronounced in video, on a large screen - but I am interested in magnifying the process to detect just this sort of irregularity.

[@publikintox892]

Me using an ender 3 to print pla This guy with brown frosting and a piping bag

[@KarlLew]

When 3DP mug mugs go Etsy.

[@martinTintin476]

WOW. Will you build me a house, please? :) :)

[@TomLauerman]

I think house printing is being well covered by other folks. I really like small things!

[@martinTintin476]

@@TomLauerman I'm sorry, but now you've run. That's not what a man should say. ;) HAHA There is a connection. If something is small, does it matter? I would like to try this clay print too. It's great, but when the others have done it, it's a playful song. I have an idea to support a similar tick using 12v batteries to print a fireclay pizza oven. The car battery has a standard of at least 40Ah, so a maximum of 40W is enough to support 5 stepper motors (40/12 = 3.3Ah --- 40 / 3.3-12 hours of printing). The idea seems good to me, I'm already hungry.

[@buder5116]

now squish it !

[@TomLauerman]

I can offer you this instead: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpSvkJSBo6eXp80

[@buder5116]

@@TomLauerman xD