Templates are one of the most underused tools in a pottery studio. Whether you’re throwing consistent sets on the wheel, building slab forms, or making molds for slipcasting, a well-made template lets you repeat a form accurately without relying on eye and memory. Here’s how to make and use them effectively.
What is a Pottery Template?
A template is a flat profile guide — typically cut from a stiff material like cardboard, plastic sheet, or thin wood — that matches the cross-section of a form you want to repeat. You hold or press the template against your clay to check the shape, trim to match, or guide a tool along a consistent path.
Templates are used in three main contexts in ceramics:
- Wheel throwing — checking profile consistency across a set of mugs, bowls, or plates
- Handbuilding and slab work — cutting consistent shapes from slabs for production runs
- Mold making and slipcasting — creating the original model from which a mold is made, or trimming cast pieces to a consistent profile
What to Make Templates From
| Material | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thick cardboard / mat board | Quick one-off templates | Easy to cut with scissors, warps if wet. Good for testing a profile before committing to a permanent template. |
| Plastic sheet (HDPE or acrylic) | Long-term reusable templates | Water-resistant, easy to wipe clean, holds its shape. Cut with scissors or a craft knife. Best all-round choice. |
| Thin plywood or MDF | Large slab cutting templates | Very rigid and durable. Requires a saw to cut. Good for large flat shapes like plate outlines. |
| Foam board | Quick prototype templates | Easy to cut, won’t warp. Not as durable as plastic but fine for single-use or prototype work. |
| Metal (aluminium sheet) | Jigger and jolly templates | Used in production settings where the template is held against spinning clay. Requires metalworking tools. |
For most studio potters, thick plastic sheet (cut from a plastic folder, cutting mat, or purchased HDPE sheet) is the best all-round choice — it’s waterproof, dimensionally stable, easy to cut with scissors, and lasts for years.
How to Make a Wheel Throwing Profile Template
A profile template for wheel throwing lets you check the shape of a thrown piece against a target profile — essential for making consistent sets.
- Throw your ideal piece — make the best version of the form you want to repeat. This becomes your reference.
- Trace the profile — hold a piece of card or plastic sheet against the outside of the piece and trace the outer profile with a pen. Include the foot ring shape if relevant.
- Cut out the template — cut along the traced line. The inside edge of the cut-out is your profile guide.
- Test it — hold the template against your reference piece. It should fit flush against the profile with no gaps.
- Label it — write the form name, size, and clay body on the template so you don’t mix them up.
When throwing your set, periodically hold the template against the outside of the piece while it’s still on the wheel. Adjust until the profile matches. This is much faster and more accurate than measuring with calipers alone.
How to Make Slab Cutting Templates
For slab building, templates are flat shapes that you lay on the slab and cut around — like a cookie cutter but for clay slabs.
- Draw your shape on paper first — work out the exact dimensions you need, accounting for shrinkage. If your clay shrinks 12%, make your template 12% larger than your intended fired size.
- Transfer to your template material — trace or print directly onto plastic sheet or cardboard.
- Cut out cleanly — use sharp scissors or a craft knife. Smooth any rough edges so they don’t drag through the clay.
- Use a needle tool to cut — lay the template on your rolled slab and run a needle tool or fettling knife around the edge. Keep the blade vertical for clean edges.
Templates for Mold Making
In slipcasting and mold making, templates serve two purposes — defining the shape of the original model, and trimming cast pieces to a consistent profile before the clay sets.
Model-making templates
When building a model to cast a mold from, use a profile template to check the shape as you build. For a turned plaster model, hold the template against the spinning model on a banding wheel to check the profile continuously as you refine the shape.
Trimming cast pieces
After demolding a slipcast piece at leather-hard stage, use a template to trim the rim to a consistent height and profile. Hold the template vertically against the piece and use a fettling knife to trim any excess clay that extends beyond the template edge.
3D Printing Templates
If you have access to a 3D printer, templates are an excellent application. You can design precise profiles in CAD software, account for exact shrinkage percentages, and print templates in PLA or PETG that are rigid, waterproof, and dimensionally accurate. This is particularly useful for slipcasting where consistency across large production runs matters most.
For cookie cutter and stamp designs, tools like CookieCAD let you create SVG outlines that can be exported directly to a slicer for 3D printing — a fast workflow for simple profile shapes.
Tips for Better Templates
- Account for shrinkage — clay shrinks during drying and firing, typically 10–15% depending on the clay body. Make your template larger than the intended fired size by your clay’s shrinkage rate.
- Make duplicates — templates get lost, warped, or damaged. Make two of any template you use regularly.
- Store flat — even plastic templates can warp if stored rolled up or under weight. Store flat in a folder or hung on a wall.
- Test before committing — always make a test piece with a new template before starting a production run. Verify the fired size matches your target dimensions.
- Label everything — include the form name, clay body, and shrinkage rate on every template.
For more on building consistent sets and forms, see our guides on Slab Built Projects, Making One Piece Pottery Molds, and Slipcasting: Step-by-Step Guide.
