What if I wanted to design my own dishware?
February 20, 2019 6:42 AM Subscribe
Is the process feasable for someone like me?
I often make my own wooden dishware because I can't find an idea I have being made anywhere else. Even though wood is often not ideal for dishware, at least I can create whatever I want out of it. I don't know how to do pottery.
A friend said I should make my own dishware which would ideally be made from porcelain and laboratory glass and sell it on amazon. Is it as "simple" as finding a manufacturer and giving them my designs? Is it even worth it considering someone from China might likely be able to copy it with crappy materials? (I would want to produce items of quality).
I'm not trying to build an empire. Just create some quality items that I think others will appreciate too.
I often make my own wooden dishware because I can't find an idea I have being made anywhere else. Even though wood is often not ideal for dishware, at least I can create whatever I want out of it. I don't know how to do pottery.
A friend said I should make my own dishware which would ideally be made from porcelain and laboratory glass and sell it on amazon. Is it as "simple" as finding a manufacturer and giving them my designs? Is it even worth it considering someone from China might likely be able to copy it with crappy materials? (I would want to produce items of quality).
I'm not trying to build an empire. Just create some quality items that I think others will appreciate too.
This guy did it. You could contact him and ask how. I know that he does a Kickstarter for each new piece, and then later he puts it up for sale on his website. I assume that's a way to guarantee an initial order, which seems kind of ingenious.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:03 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:03 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: That link is interesting, but he seems to do something different. He has regular plates and mugs with his own art printed on them. But there's nothing unique about the items themselves- only the art on them.
The items I make are items that have practical uses that I don't see being made anywhere else. For example: a dinner plate with a spoon rest or a salt container that has compartments for different types of salt. (I don't actually make any of those examples, I'm just trying to explain with things that I just made up off the top of my head.) So it's not a matter of just taking any old mug and printing some art on it.
posted by fantasticness at 7:24 AM on February 20, 2019
The items I make are items that have practical uses that I don't see being made anywhere else. For example: a dinner plate with a spoon rest or a salt container that has compartments for different types of salt. (I don't actually make any of those examples, I'm just trying to explain with things that I just made up off the top of my head.) So it's not a matter of just taking any old mug and printing some art on it.
posted by fantasticness at 7:24 AM on February 20, 2019
Some added information about your manufacturing requirements would be helpful.
Are you interested in creating new forms/shapes in porcelain and glass or altering off the shelf items?
If the former, I think the simplest [and I use the word with gay abandon] thing to do would be to identify a ceramist in your area that makes molds using rapid prototyping technology like flatbed CNC or 3D printing, then go to her and see what is feasible.
posted by Glomar response at 7:34 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Are you interested in creating new forms/shapes in porcelain and glass or altering off the shelf items?
If the former, I think the simplest [and I use the word with gay abandon] thing to do would be to identify a ceramist in your area that makes molds using rapid prototyping technology like flatbed CNC or 3D printing, then go to her and see what is feasible.
posted by Glomar response at 7:34 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
In my area, not far from NYC, Googling "pottery classes", "glass blowing classes" and "art glass classes" brings up plenty of likely-looking hits. They may not be exactly what you want, but they can give you skills, and will be more likely to be able to point you to higher-level techniques.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:56 AM on February 20, 2019
posted by SemiSalt at 8:56 AM on February 20, 2019
The short answer is "yes", you can do this—you'd be amazed what you can basically call up a factory, especially in China, and have made for you—but whether it's practical depends a lot on how many you want to make and how much you're prepared to pay (or invest upfront, if you're looking to sell them).
Here's a video of how Pyrex (lab glass) baking dishes are made. Note the heavy two-part molds that the molten glass is injected into. Making those molds is not trivial—you're probably talking about CNCing them from a big billet of steel. But obviously once you have the mold, you can churn out a lot of the same item, amortizing the cost of the mold across many items. For a small run, I doubt it would be practical, though. I mean, World Kitchen / Pyrex doesn't even change their designs that often, making me suspect that the molds are really capital-intensive to make.
So... I sorta doubt that's going to be economical. I'd bet it's on the order of tens of thousands of bucks for the first unit, even overseas.
If you're really set on glass, maybe find a local glass-blowing shop and talk to them. I have seen a glassblower form an item using a (water-soaked) wooden "block" that's basically a two-part mold; I think this is how standard-sized bottles were made traditionally, although I don't know if it would work for a solid item like a plate. Plates were made using a glass press in the 19th c., but I don't know how many people are still doing that process, and in any event it brings you back to making metal tooling for the press.
Anyway, so that's glass.
I do think you could potentially do it out of fired ceramic, since there's no temperature issues and thus you can use wood or plastic molds/dies. Here's someone who is using 3D printed molds for "slip cast" ceramic. (More on slip casting.) There's another technique that only produces a precise casting on one face of the piece, called drape casting, that seems like it could work, especially if you're a woodworker and capable of making the mold yourself. Perhaps even one of your existing wooden pieces could be used as a mold. If you want to go that route, I'd ask around and try to find someone who does ceramics, or maybe see if you can take a pottery/ceramics class locally and talk to the instructor about working on your project in the context of the class (perhaps once you have the basics down).
The third and perhaps easiest route would be to use an outsourced fabrication service that can "print" ceramics. Shapeways does this, among others. It's food-safe, and you can use your 3D modeling/design program of choice (Fusion 360 is popular). Shapeways charges $1.16 per cubic inch with no startup costs—Kwambio seems about the same—so it's good for one-offs... although it would make a pretty expensive service for 12. (The rather small example mug they show is $70.) There are some requirements on minimum wall and detail thickness that you'd need to keep in mind. But you could prototype in plastic (cheap) and only have it done in ceramic once you're sure it's looking good. IMO, this is the route I'd go if I wasn't interested in acquiring a new hobby.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:26 PM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
Here's a video of how Pyrex (lab glass) baking dishes are made. Note the heavy two-part molds that the molten glass is injected into. Making those molds is not trivial—you're probably talking about CNCing them from a big billet of steel. But obviously once you have the mold, you can churn out a lot of the same item, amortizing the cost of the mold across many items. For a small run, I doubt it would be practical, though. I mean, World Kitchen / Pyrex doesn't even change their designs that often, making me suspect that the molds are really capital-intensive to make.
So... I sorta doubt that's going to be economical. I'd bet it's on the order of tens of thousands of bucks for the first unit, even overseas.
If you're really set on glass, maybe find a local glass-blowing shop and talk to them. I have seen a glassblower form an item using a (water-soaked) wooden "block" that's basically a two-part mold; I think this is how standard-sized bottles were made traditionally, although I don't know if it would work for a solid item like a plate. Plates were made using a glass press in the 19th c., but I don't know how many people are still doing that process, and in any event it brings you back to making metal tooling for the press.
Anyway, so that's glass.
I do think you could potentially do it out of fired ceramic, since there's no temperature issues and thus you can use wood or plastic molds/dies. Here's someone who is using 3D printed molds for "slip cast" ceramic. (More on slip casting.) There's another technique that only produces a precise casting on one face of the piece, called drape casting, that seems like it could work, especially if you're a woodworker and capable of making the mold yourself. Perhaps even one of your existing wooden pieces could be used as a mold. If you want to go that route, I'd ask around and try to find someone who does ceramics, or maybe see if you can take a pottery/ceramics class locally and talk to the instructor about working on your project in the context of the class (perhaps once you have the basics down).
The third and perhaps easiest route would be to use an outsourced fabrication service that can "print" ceramics. Shapeways does this, among others. It's food-safe, and you can use your 3D modeling/design program of choice (Fusion 360 is popular). Shapeways charges $1.16 per cubic inch with no startup costs—Kwambio seems about the same—so it's good for one-offs... although it would make a pretty expensive service for 12. (The rather small example mug they show is $70.) There are some requirements on minimum wall and detail thickness that you'd need to keep in mind. But you could prototype in plastic (cheap) and only have it done in ceramic once you're sure it's looking good. IMO, this is the route I'd go if I wasn't interested in acquiring a new hobby.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:26 PM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think that you'd have a better chance at finding your target audience/buyer if you handmade porcelain items yourself and sold them on Etsy rather than trying to manufacture large volumes overseas (most manufacturers have fairly high minimum order requirements) and sell on Amazon.
Find a couple of classes at a ceramics studio where you can also buy extra time and access to their tools and supplies. Community colleges also often have classes and studios at reasonable prices, though they fill up fast. Ceramics isn't hard to learn and you would have a chance to work though design ideas with a very fast idea to final object timeline. You also would avoid having to learn how to or pay someone else to translate your designs into measured spec drawings to send to a fabricator.
posted by quince at 12:47 PM on February 20, 2019
Find a couple of classes at a ceramics studio where you can also buy extra time and access to their tools and supplies. Community colleges also often have classes and studios at reasonable prices, though they fill up fast. Ceramics isn't hard to learn and you would have a chance to work though design ideas with a very fast idea to final object timeline. You also would avoid having to learn how to or pay someone else to translate your designs into measured spec drawings to send to a fabricator.
posted by quince at 12:47 PM on February 20, 2019
Lab glass fabricators are often down for limited runs of custom items. It is far from cheap, however.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:12 PM on February 20, 2019
posted by furnace.heart at 1:12 PM on February 20, 2019
If the former, I think the simplest [and I use the word with gay abandon] thing to do would be to identify a ceramist in your area that makes molds using rapid prototyping technology like flatbed CNC or 3D printing, then go to her and see what is feasible.
This, or even just a regular ceramic studio that works with slipcasting using molds (this is pretty common, in my experience). Molds aren't particularly hard to make or use and they could probably make you a mold out of plaster of paris based on a prototype you make (which can be out of wood, I believe) and then cast and fire the items made out of the mold.
You could probably also get to this yourself, which would reduce your manufacturing costs up front, by taking a class where you learn to make and use the molds yourself.
posted by urbanlenny at 10:48 AM on February 21, 2019
This, or even just a regular ceramic studio that works with slipcasting using molds (this is pretty common, in my experience). Molds aren't particularly hard to make or use and they could probably make you a mold out of plaster of paris based on a prototype you make (which can be out of wood, I believe) and then cast and fire the items made out of the mold.
You could probably also get to this yourself, which would reduce your manufacturing costs up front, by taking a class where you learn to make and use the molds yourself.
posted by urbanlenny at 10:48 AM on February 21, 2019
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posted by pinochiette at 6:52 AM on February 20, 2019