Make a custom pottery throwing rib
Pottery Throwing Rib Designer
Design Your Perfect Studio Tools Welcome to the custom pottery throwing Rib Designer by PotteryTech. Have you ever needed a highly specific rib for a tricky bowl interior or vase neck, but couldn’t find it in any store? This free web application bridges the gap between your pottery wheel and your 3D printer. Trace your own pot silhouettes, dial in your exact millimeter dimensions, and instantly export your custom rib profiles as CAD-ready SVG files. Start designing your custom studio equipment below!
The ABCs of Designing Your First Rib
A. Add a Reference Photo & Trace Staring at a blank grid can be intimidating. The easiest way to design a rib is to trace the profile of a pot you already love.
- Click 📷 Pot Ref and upload a clear, straight-on photo of a pot or an existing rib.
- Ensure the ✏️ Edit toggle is ON (it should be highlighted dark blue).
- Click on the grid to drop your first point. Keep clicking to drop points around the edge of your shape. Don’t worry if it’s messy—we will fix that next!
- Click near your very first point to “close” the shape. It will fill in with a semi-transparent orange color.
B. Build, Smooth, and Lock Now it’s time to refine your wobbly tracing into a fluid, professional tool.
- Move Points: Click and drag the dark circular points to adjust the main corners. Drag the orange control points to change the tension and swoop of the curves. Double-click a point to delete it.
- ✨ Smooth: Is your curve looking a bit higgledy-piggledy? Adjust the slider next to the ✨ Smooth button (15% is a good start) and click it a few times. Watch the math magically iron out the micro-jitters in your line.
- 🔒 Lock Pts: Need a perfectly flat edge for scraping bats or throwing cylinders? Click 🔒 Lock Pts, then click the points at the ends of your straight line. They will turn into squares, freezing them in place so the Smoothing tool doesn’t round them off.
C. Customize the Core (Symmetry & Grip)
- ⚖️ Sym (Auto-Symmetry): Designing a rib to compress the inside of bowls? Draw just the left half of the curve, then click ⚖️ Sym. The tool will instantly slice your design down the middle and mirror it perfectly to the right side.
- 🕳️ Hole: A wet, slippery rib is a dropped rib. Click the 🕳️ Hole tool, then click inside your shape to punch out a grip hole. Drag the center of the hole to move it, or drag the outer dashed rim to resize it perfectly for your thumb.
Dialing in Your 3D Print Settings
Once your vector shape looks right, look at the dimension boxes at the bottom. This is where you turn a flat drawing into a physical studio tool.
- W & H (Width & Height): Type in your desired physical dimensions in millimeters. Check the 📏 Dims box in the toolbar to see these measurements floating live on your canvas!
- T (Thickness): This dictates the flex of your rib. For standard PLA/PETG filaments, 1mm will be very flexible, 2mm gives a nice semi-stiff yield, and 3mm+ is highly rigid.
- Edge Profiles: This dropdown drastically changes how the tool interacts with clay:
- Flat: Creates a 90-degree blocky edge. Great for basic templates or slapping/paddling shapes.
- Chamfer: Angles the edge slightly. Good for clearing slurry without digging into the wall.
- Round: Creates a soft, bullnose edge. Absolute magic for compressing the inside curves of bowls without leaving scrape marks.
- Taper (Scraper): The ultimate thrower’s edge. This keeps the center of the rib at your full chosen thickness for grip strength, but slopes the outer perimeter down to a sharp 0.6mm blade—perfect for peeling off slip or defining sharp foot rings.
Export and Make!
When you are happy with the design, simply click the green 🖨️ STL button.
The software will instantly generate a 3D solid file of your rib, complete with your chosen edge profile and thickness. You can drag this file directly into your 3D printer slicing software, and you’ll have a brand-new, custom-tailored tool in your hands before your clay even dries.
(Pro tip: Save your design by clicking 💾 SVG or using the 💾 Save template button so you can edit it later!)
