Voronoi Clay Stamps

Named after Russian mathematician Georgy Voronoy, these patterns occur in cracked mud,  giraffe skin and sudsy bubbles. They're quite mathematical, visually unpredictable and tailor-made to generate seemingly random patterns on 65mm spherical clay stamps.

This is the fourth in my series of easy-to-use clay rollers for embossing clay. You'll find a link to a collection of my clay and pottery models at the end of this description.

Each Clay Stamp Ball is just a bit smaller than a hard baseball. It fits comfortably in most adult hands (for smaller mitts you can scale it down in your slicer). You can use it any way you'd like: roll it in a line to make a border, in a drunken path for wild decoration or freeze frame to make a unique stamp.

Boring Details. I made these four variations in Rhino 3D using its Grasshopper visual scripting interface. Each is based on a square panel which is extruded, then morphed onto the six surfaces of a Quad Sphere. The panels are variously rotated to avoid repetition, but if you peer closely you can see narrow paths separating the six surfaces.

Veronica. This is my favorite, though at first I thought the pattern was too detailed to work. Since I loved its complexity I doubled its size in the slicer and printed a big white version (see the photos), but while it was printing I tried the original on a swatch of green clay and was very pleased by the results.

Valerie, Viola and Venetia are her cousins, each worthy of a better description than I have time to provide. Their patterns feature somewhat larger indentations but still offer mucho complexity.

Practice using these on a slab of clay to develop a proper touch. If you use light pressure you can overwrite imperfections with a second pass. Clean with a strong spray of water. If you're using modeling clay, a nailbrush and soap will dislodge sticky bits.

Are they printable? Yes: with the help of supports. I've had good results with basic supports from the build plate (don't use tree supports). The support structure generally snaps off cleanly. I've printed these in ABS and ASA but PLA and PETG should work fine, too.

If you want to encourage this project please leave a comment and show your results. Suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Check out my other clay stamp models in this Clay/Pottery Stamps Collection.

Want more? You'll find unique and exclusive Clay Stamp Ball designs at Matthew Wafler Creations website, freshly made and ready to imprint clay, at reasonable prices. Matthew, a fan of my Clay Rolling Stamps, suggested this Clay Ball project to me.