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The Clay Hole University · Other Ways to Find, Fire, and Form

Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do ItPrintable pottery guide

How a dry plaster mold turns liquid clay into a pot, on paper: the slip and how to measure it, three routes to a mold, the pour, the drying, what goes wrong, and a log for every cast you pour. A home technique, not something we cast or teach at the studio.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • 27 printable pages
  • 7 video picks
  • 8-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any printer
  • The lesson stays free
The printable, at a glance

What is the Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It printable guide?

It is the free “Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It” lesson rebuilt for paper: why a dry plaster mold builds a wall of clay, what casting slip is and how to read its specific gravity, three routes to a mold, the pour in nine steps, draining and releasing, drying and finishing, eight ways a cast goes bad, and why it is not done at our studio. It is a home technique guide, built from standard practice and reasoning, not a studio class. Made to be printed, kept beside the mold and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 27printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 7hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 26glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone curious about liquid clay and a plaster mold

Plaster is thirsty. That is the whole trick.

We want to be plain before you buy: we do not allow slip casting at The Clay Hole, wet plaster is banned in our building, and we cannot fire anything cast from bought slip or any outside clay. This guide is for something you do somewhere else, a garage, a spare room or a friend’s studio. It is a technique guide, not a class, and it does not promise how your casts will turn out.

What it does give you is the idea that makes every rule make sense. Pour slip into a dry plaster mold and the plaster drinks the water out, so a wall of clay grows itself while you stand there. The guide then walks the cycle in order: the slip and its specific gravity, the mold, the nine step pour, draining, releasing and drying.

It also gives you what a web page cannot: a log to write in. The date and the mold, the slip you measured, the minutes it stood and how the piece came out. A handful of casts in, your molds have told you their own numbers.

Look inside

Real pages, for beside the mold

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 3 of the “Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before any slip is mixed: what you will learn, what you need, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls and what a good cast looks like.
  • Page 4 of the “Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It” printable guide: slip casting at home and studio, shown with the sample watermark
    Slip casting at home and studioThe plain statement of where this is done and where it is not, with the reasons, so nobody buys it thinking we teach it.
  • Page 8 of the “Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It” printable guide: three routes to a mold, shown with the sample watermark
    Three routes to a moldThe question that decides how many parts a mold needs, and the one part, silicone baking mold and two part routes that follow from it.
  • Page 19 of the “Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It” printable guide: every cast i poured, and how it came out, shown with the sample watermark
    Every cast I poured, and how it came outA log to write in: the date and mold, the specific gravity you measured, the minutes in the mold, the wall and how it came out.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A pour runs on a timer

Casting happens at a bench with wet hands and a clock running. Paper suits that.

  • The pour where you can see it

    The pour, the draining and the release are laid out one step at a time, on a page you can prop against a bucket without touching a screen.

  • A reason for every rule

    Each rule comes with its reason: why the mold must be dry, why you add deflocculant and never water, why you cut the gate instead of tearing it.

  • A log for your own casts

    Columns for the specific gravity, the minutes in the mold, the wall and how it came out. A few lines of notes beat a memory of what worked.

  • No screen to splash

    Your hands are covered in slip. A page stays where you put it, and nobody minds if it gets a splash.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • Read against the studio’s own rules

    We checked the lesson against The Clay Hole’s rules and our other lessons. Where it was out of step, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • Plain about where it is done

    The guide says up front that we do not cast at the studio and why, and that none of the linked videos are ours. It is a home technique, written as reasoning and standard practice.

  • Dust gear said up front

    Sifting dry plaster, slaking dry clay and sanding bone dry clay all call for an N95 or better and safety glasses, and the guide says so where each one comes up.

  • Water that stays out of the sink

    Slip, plaster and rinse water never go down a sink, and the guide says what to do with them instead.

  • Video notes that match the videos

    Each video note says only what the video’s own description and chapters show, with a code that takes you straight to it. They are other makers’ work, linked, not ours.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Slip Casting: How It Works and Where to Do It” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Pour liquid clay into a dry plaster mold and the plaster drinks the water out. A wall of clay grows itself while you stand there doing nothing. It is the strangest way to form clay I know, and one of the most precise.

Go and try it somewhere with a floor you do not mind, then come tell us how it went. We love hearing what you are making.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

See every printable guide

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
  • 9guides in your cart2 on us
Sits next to

Three lessons that pick up where this one leaves off

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a cast log to write in, a one page reference of the whole cycle, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Does this mean the studio will teach or fire slip casting?
No. We do not allow slip casting at The Clay Hole, wet plaster is banned in the building, and we cannot fire anything cast from bought slip or any outside clay. The guide is for work you do at home or somewhere else. It is reasoning and standard practice, not a studio class.
Is it safe to cast at home?
The guide treats it as a project with real cautions. Wear an N95 or better and safety glasses when you sift dry plaster, slake dry clay or sand bone dry clay, and never pour slip, plaster or rinse water down a sink. It is written as reasoning and common practice, not a test, so check your own space and your own materials.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Beginner. The pour is explained step by step, the three numbers to watch are on one page, and the glossary fills in the words.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. The text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels.
Can I use it on a screen instead of printing it?
Yes, it is an ordinary PDF and opens on a computer, tablet or phone. It is laid out for paper, though, and the cast log and the one page reference are at their best on the bench beside the mold.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page reference and the cast log are the two worth having at the mold. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed and on the table the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Measure the slip, then pour

Start with a dry mold, write the time down and cast somewhere you do not mind a mess. The guide keeps every step in front of you at the bench.

Get the guide · $5.00

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Pottery is wonderfully unpredictable. It also carries real risk.

We work hard to make The Clay Hole University accurate, useful, practical, and ridiculously thorough. But pottery is a hands-on craft involving countless variables that no written guide can completely control or anticipate.

Depending on what you are doing, ceramics may involve extreme heat, kilns, electricity, gas, flame, sharp tools, spinning machinery, heavy equipment, pressurized equipment, silica-containing dust, fumes, chemicals, raw materials, stains, oxides, glazes, combustible materials, hot surfaces, breakable objects, and other hazards capable of causing serious injury, illness, property damage, fire, or worse.

These guides are provided for general educational and informational purposes. They are not a substitute for hands-on training, competent supervision, your studio’s safety procedures, applicable laws or codes, Safety Data Sheets, or the instructions and warnings supplied by the manufacturers of your clay, glaze, chemicals, tools, kilns, equipment, protective gear, or other materials.

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Use appropriate protective equipment. Use adequate ventilation and dust control. Read manufacturer instructions and Safety Data Sheets. Follow your studio’s rules. Obtain qualified instruction when a process or piece of equipment requires it. Test materials and techniques before committing important work to them. If you do not understand how to perform something safely, do not proceed until you do.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b