The hybrid plaster pottery bat
The challenge
When throwing clay on a pottery wheel, potters use a removable disc called a "bat" so they can lift a wet piece off the wheel without warping it. While materials like wood or acrylic are common, plaster is the holy grail because it draws water out evenly, helping the piece dry flawlessly without cracking.
The system constraints
Traditional plaster bats have a massive UX flaw: they have to be cast incredibly thick so they don't snap under the pressure of the wheel. This makes them incredibly heavy, bulky, and highly impractical to store on tight studio drying shelves.
The method
I wanted the hygroscopic benefits of plaster without the physical weight penalty. Using CAD and 3D printing, I designed a lightweight plastic frame that can be attached to a pottery wheel head, and a smaller removable tray that was filled with plaster to sit inside it.
The result
The 3D-printed tray helps relieve mechanical stress, allowing the plaster component to be small, thin, and light. Once a piece is done, the insert is popped out and slid easily onto a standard drying shelf, radically maximizing physical space and workflow efficiency in the studio.