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3D Printed Clay: Ceramic Sculptures by Jonathan Keep

08.07.14 | By
3D Printed Clay: Ceramic Sculptures by Jonathan Keep

The process isn’t yet as simple as plug and print like an inkjet unit, requiring preparation of a clay medium for ideal printing viscosity as shown in this video. But once the clay is readied, the array of morphological creations of British artist Jonathan Keep‘s imagination partnered with the precision of a DIY computer guided 3D printer is impressive.

Artist Jonathan Keep's 3D printed clay pottery are inspired by patterns and forms evident in nature, including icebergs, petrified wood, seeds, and even sound waves (shown above).

Artist Jonathan Keep’s 3D printed clay pottery are inspired by patterns and forms evident in nature, including icebergs, petrified wood, seeds, and even sound waves (shown above).

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Keep built his own 3D printer based upon a delta robotics model, a type of parallel robot with three arms connected to universal joints at the base limited by parallelograms in the arms; the parallelograms limit the printer’s movements to the X, Y or Z direction without rotation (the high speed efficacy of delta robots make them popular in the packaging industry, medical and pharmaceutical industry).

The “ink” in Keep’s ceramic printer is ejected using a clay extruder made from parts adapted from the adhesives industry. 30 psi of compressed air pushes out the clay at around 1mm per second.

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“I have long used computer software to develop new ceramic forms. With an interest in the hidden numerical code that underpins all nature I have developed a working process whereby the shapes of these pots are written in computer code. This digital information is passed to a studio based DIY 3D printer that I have adapted to print in clay. Layer by layer the pots are printed out – a sort of mechanical pottery coil building. After printing, the ceramic is fired and glaze in the normal way.”

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Keep shares plans, materials, software, and insight about how to make/use your own DIY Delta Printer for ceramics for those inclined to follow his experiments.

Keep shares plans, materials, software, and insight about how to make/use your own DIY Delta Printer for ceramics for those inclined to follow his experiments.

More of artist Jonathan Keep’s Digital Pots available for viewing here.

If you like this, check out the pottery printer by gt2P.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.