A Filament 3D Printer uses a spool of plastic string called filament. The machine pulls this string into a heated nozzle, melts it, and prints a thin layer on a flat plate. Once one layer is finished, the printer moves up slightly and draws the next layer on top. It repeats this until you have a solid 3D object, like a clay cutter!
Clay de Joie cutters are created using a 3D filament printer from Prusa Research. Since each cutter is “drawn” by the printer layer-by-layer, from bottom up, you will notice tiny bumps or slight seams (called a Z-seam). This is where the printer starts and stops each layer. Think them as the “fingerprints” left by the 3D printer. More importantly, the bumps and seams won’t interfere with your clay cutting and its crisp edge.
PLA (Polylactic Acid) is used for printing the clay tools.
PLA is made from fermented plant starch (like corn). Because it’s plant-based, it has a much lower carbon footprint during production compared to traditional plastics. Under the right industrial composting conditions, PLA is biodegradable and can break down back into natural elements.
PLA is naturally quite stiff. This stiffness allows me to design those ultra-thin, sharp cutting walls (the “blades”) that give you a crisp cut without the tool bending out of shape. It doesn’t shrink or warp much during printing, meaning the size you see on my website is exactly the size you get in the mail.
Since I print from home, safety is a huge deal. When PLA is printed, it doesn’t release harsh, toxic smells like other filaments (such as ABS). In fact, it usually smells slightly sweet, like pancakes or maple syrup! However, PLA isn’t always “food safe” so the cutter should be only used for art, not for cookies (food)!
PLA takes pigment incredibly well, so there many colours to choose from when buying it from internet. I have chosen the Matte Beige colour for Clay de Joie’s cutters.
Taking care of 3D-printed PLA cutters is a little different than caring for metal or silicone tools. Because they are made of PLA (a bio-plastic that can soften with heat) and have tiny “layer lines” from the printing process, they need a bit of special love to stay in top shape.
Only clean your PLA cutters with cool or lukewarm water. PLA has a low melting point. The high heat of a dishwasher will warp, melt, or bend your beautiful designs into abstract sculptures!
Polymer clay can sometimes get stuck in the fine details or the “blade” of the cutter. Use a gentle dish soap and your fingers to wipe away any clay residue.
After washing, don’t let them soak in water for long periods. Pat them dry with a lint-free towel or let them air dry on a flat surface. Make sure they are completely dry before putting them away to prevent any moisture from sitting in the microscopic gaps of the plastic.
Since these are precision-engineered tools, how you store them matters!
- Avoid the Sun: Don’t leave your cutters on a sunny windowsill. Prolonged UV rays and heat can make PLA brittle over time.
- Store Flat or Hanging: Keep them in a cool, dry place. A shallow drawer with a non-slip liner is great, or you can hang them on a pegboard (they look like art that way!).
- Don’t Stack Heavy Items: Try not to pile heavy acrylic rollers or glass slabs on top of your cutters, as constant pressure can cause the thin cutting walls to lose their shape.
Because 3D-printed cutters have microscopic texture from the print layers, sticky clay can sometimes cling to the walls. To prevent this, lightly dip your cutter into a small bowl of cornstarch (cornflour) and tap off the excess before cutting. You can then brush off the excess flour from the clay.
To get the cleanest and shapest edge possible:
- Press the cutter straight down firmly.
- Give it a very tiny, gentle wiggle (just a millimeter!) while it’s still pushed down against the work surface.
- Lift straight up.
As an engineer, I design these cutters to work best with standard clay thicknesses. Aim for a slab that is about 2mm to 3mm thick (usually the medium setting on a pasta machine). Other thicknesses should also work but may require some practice.
If you want your clay shapes to have soft, rounded “beveled” edges (like a pillowed look):
- Lay a piece of plastic cling wrap over your clay slab.
- Press the cutter down through the plastic wrap.
- Lift straight up.
Don’t worry if your first few tries aren’t perfect! Polymer clay is very forgiving. If you don’t like a cut, just squish the clay, roll it back out, and try again.
Onshape is the online software I use to design 3D cutters. In Onshape, everything starts with a 2D Sketch. Imagine drawing a circle on a piece of digital paper. Because it’s CAD (Computer-Aided Design), you don’t have to worry about shaky hands, you can tell the software, “make this circle exactly 20mm diameter,” and it will draw it accurately.
Once your 2D drawing is done, you use a tool called Extrude. This is where you tell the software to give a certain thickness to your 2D sketch so it becomes 3D. This is how you create the walls of your circular cutter.