Clay Shrinkage Calculator
Clay shrinks as it dries and fires. Enter your clay's total shrinkage and either the size you will make or the finished size you need.
Result
- Make it this size wet
- 4.55
- Volume lost in firing
- about 32%
Shrinkage is printed on the clay bag or data sheet. Test your own clay with a marked tile, since it varies with firing temperature.
How this calculator works
Shrinkage is a percentage of the wet size. Fired size = wet size x (1 - shrinkage). To hit a target, wet size = target / (1 - shrinkage). Volume shrinks even more, roughly with the cube of the linear change.