A potter in a clay splattered apron holding the spiral bound, printed Book of Molds from The Clay Hole

Custom printed and bound

Take The Book of Molds home54 pages, full color, printed on both sides, spiral bound

Every slab mold we own, with a photo of the slab mold, an example of what comes off it, where it sits on the shelf, and how much clay to start with. We keep copies at the studio for anyone to use while they work, free. This is the one that goes home with you.

$45 Picked up at the studio. Nothing ships.
Download the free PDF instead (52 pages, 10 MB)
  • Pick up at the studio
  • Up to a week if we are out
  • Nothing ships
  • Spiral bound and shrink-wrapped
Before you spend anything

There are copies at the studio, and they are free

They live on the test tile pot table and they are not going anywhere. Anyone can pick one up, find the slab mold they want, and put it back. You never have to buy anything to use The Book of Molds here.

The PDF is free too. Download it, print it at home, punch it, put it in a binder. Or read it in the browser and skip the paper entirely.

What you cannot do with a studio copy is take it home or mark it up. Those copies have to stay clean and they have to stay here, because the next person needs them.

That is the whole difference. If it is not worth $45 to you, use ours.

What you are holding

Fifty-four pages

Every slab mold gets a card: a photo of the slab mold itself, a photo of something made from it, its shelf location, the clay amount to start with, its estimated volume, its sister and similar slab molds, and the membership Level it belongs to.

The QR code on each one opens that slab mold in The Book of Molds online, so adding it to your favorites takes a camera and no typing. Around the cards: getting certified, what ruins a slab mold, hand building, making your own at home, and a letter from the owner at the back.

Those 54 pages are 27 sheets, printed on both sides. The inside of the front cover and the inside of the back cover are blank. Every other page is printed, so there are no blank pages to write on.

  • 54pages, printed on both sides
  • 248slab molds, all of them
  • 38pages of slab mold cards
  • QRon every slab mold

The paper, in plain terms

The covers are 18 pt card stock. That is about half a millimeter thick, as stiff as a heavy postcard. The inside pages are 80 lb glossy paper, the weight of a catalog or an art book. It is heavier than a typical magazine page. Each copy is spiral bound and shrink-wrapped.

Exact spec: 18 pt covers, 32/80# text gloss.

The part that costs money

What you can do with one that is yours

  • Both sides are printed

    There are no blank pages to write on. If you want to keep notes on the clay you used and how thick you rolled the slab, keep them in a notebook next to the book.

  • Find the slab mold fast

    Most people use the same handful of slab molds over and over. Every slab mold has its own card with the shelf location and the clay amount on it, so you know both before you roll.

  • Plan before you roll a slab

    Picking a slab mold while a rolled slab is already stiffening is the wrong order. Decide the night before, on the couch, and turn up knowing the shelf, the clay amount and the shape.

  • It needs nothing to work

    No battery, no signal, no app, no page that will not load. It opens flat where you left it, which is what the spiral binding is for.

The printing

Made by a professional printer

Fifty-four pages of full color on 80 lb glossy paper, printed on both sides, in 18 pt covers, spiral bound and shrink-wrapped. We do not run these off in the back office. They go out to a professional printer who builds them to that spec. Full color on every page, on thick glossy paper, is the expensive part.

We are not trying to be in the printing business. That is why the PDF is free and why there are copies on the test tile pot table for anyone to use. Nobody has to buy one of these.

If you want one of your own, built properly, we are glad to have it made. This is what that costs.

There are two of these

Take ten percent off both

The Glaze Bible is the other one. Two hundred and eighty pages covering every glaze and underglaze on the wall, built the same way: full color, spiral bound, a QR code on every glaze.

Put both in the cart at the same time and this code takes ten percent off the pair.

BOTHBOOKS

Enter it at checkout. The cart will remind you.

A Clay Hole member in a clay splattered apron holding the spiral bound printed Glaze Bible against her chest
The other book The Glaze Bible

280 pages, every glaze on the wall, printed and bound the same way.

See it →
After you order

How you get it

  • We try to keep a few on the shelf. If we are out when you order, give us up to a week to get another one printed.
  • Pick it up during a class time: the Monday daytime class, 10:30 AM to 2 PM, or any evening class Monday through Thursday, 6:30 PM to 10 PM.
  • Open studio is not a pickup time. Friday evenings and weekend mornings will not work.
  • Nothing ships. Everything from this store is picked up at the studio.

Not sure whether we have one on the shelf right now, text the studio at 385-241-5528.

Before you decide

Questions people ask

Do I have to be a member to buy one?

No. The book is built around this studio, so it is most useful to people who work here, but nothing stops anyone from buying a copy.

Can I just print my own?

Yes, and plenty of people do. The PDF is free and always will be. A home printer on regular paper will not look like this one, but it will tell you everything this one tells you.

How is this different from the copies at the studio?

The pages are the same. The difference is that this one goes home with you.

What happens when the slab molds change?

They do. The QR codes point at The Book of Molds online, which is kept current, so a card that has moved on still gets you to the right slab mold.

Is there room to write notes in it?

No. Every page is printed on both sides, so there are no blank pages to write on. The only blank sides are the insides of the front and back covers.

Do I need to be certified to use slab molds?

Yes. The slab roller and slab mold certification is short, free, and page five of the book points you straight at it.

Can you ship it to me?

No. Nothing from this store ships, this included.

One more time

Ours stay here. This one does not.

Use the studio copies for free for as long as you like. When you want one to plan from the night before, it is $45 and it takes us up to a week if we are out.

Choose a copy Or take the free PDF