A sage green stoneware butter dish with the lid lifted to show the butter, made from The Clay Hole butter dish paper template

Paper template 06, a hand-building pattern

The Butter Dish

A lidded dish sized to a real stick of butter, East Coast or West Coast. Finished: lid 5 1/4 in x 2 3/16 in inside, plate 6 5/8 in x 3 1/2 in at 12 percent shrinkage.

  • Intermediate
  • About 90 minutes at the table, plus drying
  • About 2 1/2 lb of clay
  • 2 template sheets, 6 pages
$8.00 one PDF, 6 pages, yours to print as often as you like

Flip through the free sample
What you will make

A butter dish sized to the stick in your fridge

Sized to a real stick of butter, both the long East Coast one and the short wide West Coast one, with room for a knife. A plate, a lid, and a coil ridge that keeps the lid from sliding.

Plate 7 1/2 in x 4 in; lid walls 6 1/2 in and 3 in long, 2 1/2 in tall; lid top 6 1/2 in x 3 in; handle strip. Every piece is drawn at wet size for a 1/4 in slab, and the finished sizes below are what comes out of the glaze kiln at 12 percent shrinkage, which is what most of the studio's stoneware does.

Fitsa 4 3/4 in stick or a short wide stick
Inside the lid5 1/4 in x 2 3/16 in x 2 in tall
Plate6 5/8 in x 3 1/2 in
Lidlifts off, locates on a coil ridge
What is in the pack

6 pages. Every piece whole on its own sheet.

  • 2 template sheets, each piece printed whole at exact size, with a 1 inch check square and a 5 centimeter bar on every sheet so you can prove the print before you cut
  • A cover with the finished size drawn and labeled, so you know what you are building before you roll a slab
  • One page on printing, rolling, cutting and the seam method, the same on every template
  • Assembly in 6 numbered steps written for this piece, then drying, glazing, and the three things that go wrong and why
  • A size table at 10, 12 and 14 percent shrinkage, because 52 Buff, B-Mix and porcelain do not shrink the same

The pieces

  • Platecut 1
  • Lid wall, shortcut 2
  • Handle stripcut 1
  • Lid wall, longcut 2
  • Lid topcut 1
Cover page of The Butter Dish, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah
The cover
The template sheets of The Butter Dish shown small, a hand-building pattern from The Clay Hole
The template sheets, shown small
Why it works

Worked out from the finished piece backward

A template that is close is worse than no template, because you trust it. Every number in this pack comes from the finished size, through the slab thickness and the shrinkage, to the flat shape that makes it. Then the finished file was measured to prove the shapes landed at that size.

1

Exact scale, with a check

Every sheet carries a 1 inch square and a 5 centimeter bar. Print at 100 percent, measure the square, and the whole sheet is right. If it is not, the print is wrong and you reprint before cutting anything.

2

Seams and bevels planned

Each edge that needs a bevel is hatched on the template and the steps say which way it leans. Mitered corners come out square because all four pieces come from one outline.

3

Tapers cut as fans

A wall that flares is drawn as part of a ring, not a trapezoid, so it closes into a cone with no pleats. The curves are worked out from the exact rim and foot sizes.

4

Fits that are already solved

Lids, flanges, saucers and ridges carry the clearance built in, at wet size, so the parts still fit after they shrink together in the kiln.

MeasurementWet, on the template52 Buff, 10 percentMost stoneware, 12 percentPorcelain, 14 percent
Plate length7 1/2 in6 3/4 in6 5/8 in6 7/16 in
Plate width4 in3 5/8 in3 1/2 in3 7/16 in
Lid length, outside6 1/2 in5 7/8 in5 3/4 in5 9/16 in
Inside the lid, length6 in5 3/8 in5 1/4 in5 3/16 in
Inside the lid, height2 1/4 in2 in2 in1 15/16 in
How to use it

Print, check, roll, cut, build

Print at 100 percent

Actual size, never Fit to page. Plain copy paper works. Card stock survives a wet slab and can be used again.

Measure the square

A ruler on the 1 inch square settles whether the sheet is right. Thirty seconds that saves a whole piece.

Roll 1/4 in

Every clearance assumes it. Let the slab firm up to soft leather hard before you cut, so it holds an edge and still bends.

Cut the count, then build

Lay the paper on the slab, cut straight down just outside the edge, bevel where the hatching says, and follow the 6 steps. Score, slip, press, compress, every seam.

The set

The other paper templates

Fifteen of them, ten to start with and five advanced, all built the same way. Free for anyone logged in, $6 to $12 each for everyone else. See all fifteen on one page.

A straight-sided handmade stoneware slab mug with a strip handle, made from The Clay Hole paper template, on a wooden tableThe Slab Mug Beginner Two matching tapered stoneware tumblers in a teal glaze, made from The Clay Hole tapered tumbler paper templateThe Tapered Tumbler Beginner A six-sided white stoneware bud vase with mitered corners holding dried grass, made from The Clay Hole hexagon vase paper templateThe Hexagon Bud Vase Intermediate A deep blue stoneware wall pocket vase hanging on a wall with eucalyptus, made from The Clay Hole wall pocket paper templateThe Wall Pocket Intermediate A small square pink stoneware keepsake box with a flat lid, made from The Clay Hole lidded box paper templateThe Lidded Keepsake Box Intermediate A tapered square speckled stoneware planter in its matching saucer with a pothos, made from The Clay Hole planter paper templateThe Square Planter and Saucer Beginner A folded black stoneware serving tray holding nigiri sushi, made from The Clay Hole folded tray paper templateThe Folded Serving Tray Beginner A small stoneware tealight house with a blue roof glowing from a candle inside, made from The Clay Hole tealight house paper templateThe Tealight House Intermediate A lavender stoneware ring dish with a cone holding two gold rings, made from The Clay Hole ring dish paper templateThe Ring Dish and Ring Cone Beginner Cover page of The Slab Table Lamp, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, UtahThe Slab Table Lamp Advanced Cover page of The Mantel Clock, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, UtahThe Mantel Clock Advanced Cover page of The Wren House, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, UtahThe Wren House Advanced Cover page of The Square Teapot, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, UtahThe Square Teapot Advanced Cover page of The Quart Pitcher, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, UtahThe Quart Pitcher Advanced
Questions

The ones that come up

Do I need a membership to buy this

No. It is $8 for anyone. A membership makes every template free, along with everything else a membership includes.

How do members get it free

Log in to your Clay Hole account on this page and the download button appears in place of the price. No code, no checkout.

Can I make it bigger or smaller

Yes. Print every piece of the pack at the same percentage and the parts still fit each other. Anything over about 115 percent runs a piece off the page, so check the sheet before you cut.

Which clay

Any of the studio's stoneware. The template is drawn for a 1/4 in slab and the sizes assume 12 percent shrinkage. 52 Buff comes out a little bigger, porcelain a little smaller, and the size table above shows both.

Can I sell what I make from it

Yes. The pots are yours. The template file is for your own use and is not to be shared, which is the whole of the terms.

What if a piece does not fit on my printer

Every piece sits whole on one letter sheet with a 3/8 inch margin, which every ordinary home and office printer reaches. Landscape sheets print landscape. Let the printer rotate the page rather than scaling it.

Members

Every template, free, every time

Fifteen templates now and more as they are drawn, all free to anyone with a Clay Hole account. Print one tonight and bring it to your next session.

Log in to download it freeSee all fifteen templates