Compostable Pot Mold w/ Draft Angles & Pulp Tamper

Based on Jacc's Compostible Planter Mold I've added a draft angle to both the mold and the core with fillets to aid in extracting the wet pulp from the core and the core from the wet pulp. I also eliminated the need for the ring to hold the plastic wrap by including a groove in the core so that you can attach the plastic wrap with a rubber band (aka an elastic band). The core also has finger grips to assist in it's extraction by giving it a gentle twist while pulling it out. To keep everything together a slot for the tamper was added to the mold body.The slot also helps in removing the wet pot by giving a place to hook a finger while pushing the core out.

The material needed was reduced by changing the infill to 10% gyroid. I've not had any problems with producing pots with my print settings; it is plenty strong. The print profile contains slim tree supports for the finger grips but on my initial print I found that I did not need them. It will look a little rough on the inside but it's functional. If you don't want to print the supports, turn them off.

Fill the pot with wet blended paper or cardboard and tamp it in with the custom designed tamper. After tamping in the damp paper to make the sides of the pot, add pulp to make the bottom, flip the tamper and press with the fat end. Fill the mold to the top put on the cap and press down hard. I find a good amount of water will come out the bottom even if you pre-squeeze the pulp. If you have a nice looking bottom and tamped the pulp down well at the beginning you should have a good pot. If not, the tapered angles of the mold will allow you to reinsert the wet pot and tamp is down more.

If your unclear on what to do, see Jacc's excellent pdf illustrating the process with his mold.

Happy gardening!