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Shapes
VaseMaker includes 29 cross-section shapes that determine the vase's horizontal profile — what it looks like from above.
| Shape | Notes |
|---|---|
| Circle | Perfect circle — the default starting point |
| Ellipse | Stretched circle with independent X/Y radius control |
| Square | Square with corner rounding control |
| Rectangle | Rectangular with corner rounding, independent width/height |
| Diamond | Rotated square / rhombus |
| Polygon | Regular polygon with 3–12 sides |
| Shape | Notes |
|---|---|
| Heart | Classic heart shape |
| Egg (2 variants) | Asymmetric egg/oval shapes |
| Butterfly | Winged figure-eight shape with thin pinch point — needs thick walls for printing |
| Cardioid (3 variants) | Cardioid curve variants |
| Teardrop | Asymmetric raindrop/pear shape. Pointiness controls how sharp the narrow end is |
| Nephroid | Kidney/bean shape with a single smooth indentation. Indent controls depth |
| Shape | Notes |
|---|---|
| Rose | Polar rose with multiple petals |
| SuperEllipse | Between rectangle and ellipse (Lamé curve) |
| SuperFormula | The most versatile — see SuperFormula Guide below |
| Infinity | Figure-eight / lemniscate |
| Limacon | Snail-shell curve |
| Folium | Leaf-shaped curve with a sharp cusp |
| Astroid | 4-cusped hypocycloid — sharp points |
| Lissajous | Parametric Lissajous figure |
| RationalRose | Rational rose with fraction parameters |
| Cassini Oval | Smooth pinched oval. Pinch slider controls waist narrowness |
| Shape | Notes |
|---|---|
| Gear | Up to 60 teeth — surprisingly printable |
| Spirograph | Epitrochoid curves — very thin lobes, display only |
| Cycloid | Epi/Hypo slider blends between outward bumps and inward cusps |
| Piriform | Pear-shaped curve |
Bottom Shape is always active. Open the Top Shape section and toggle it on to enable morphing — the vase will smoothly blend from the bottom shape at the base to the top shape at the rim. Each shape has its own independent parameters.
💡 Try morphing Circle → Star or Square → Heart for dramatic effects.
💡 Shapes with deep concavities (Butterfly, Spirograph, Rose) may not slice properly at thin wall thicknesses. If your slicer drops sections of the vase, try increasing wall thickness to 2–3mm. The narrow pinch points need thicker walls for the slicer to generate toolpaths.
Cassini Oval — Smooth pinched oval / peanut shape. The Pinch slider controls how narrow the waist is (higher = more circular, lower = deeper pinch).
Cycloid — Rolling-circle curves. Epi/Hypo slider blends from epicycloid (0, rounded outward bumps) to hypocycloid (1, inward-cusped stars), with unique hybrid shapes in between. Cusps sets the number of lobes (2=kidney, 3=deltoid, 4=astroid, 5+=stars).
Teardrop — Asymmetric raindrop/pear shape — round on one side, narrowing on the other. Pointiness controls how sharp the narrow end is.
Nephroid — Kidney/bean shape with a single smooth indentation. Indent controls depth from circle (0) to deep kidney (1).
The SuperFormula (Gielis formula) is the most versatile shape — circles, stars, polygons, petals, and organic forms from 6 parameters.
Formula: r(θ) = |cos(mθ/4)/a|^n2 + |sin(mθ/4)/b|^n3, raised to -1/n1
| Parameter | Effect | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| m | Number of symmetry lobes/petals (1–20) | Start here — sets the count |
| n1 | Overall roundness (lower = puffier, higher = pointier) | Main shape control |
| n2 | Cos term sharpness | Fine-tune lobe shape |
| n3 | Sin term sharpness | Fine-tune lobe shape |
| a | Horizontal stretch (0.1–5) | Squash/stretch |
| b | Vertical stretch (0.1–5) | Squash/stretch |
Example presets:
| Shape | m | n1 | n2 | n3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circle | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Square | 4 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Triangle | 3 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Star (5-point) | 5 | 0.3 | 1 | 1 |
| 4-petal flower | 8 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 |
| Asteroid | 4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Soft clover | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Spiky star | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
Tip: Set
mfirst for the right number of lobes, then adjustn1for roundness vs sharpness.
| Shape | Issue | Workaround |
|---|---|---|
| Spirograph | Very thin lobes | Display only, increase radius |
| Butterfly | Thin pinch point | Use 2–3mm wall thickness |
| SuperFormula (extreme values) | Thin spikes or deep concavities | Start with mild values |
| Astroid, Folium | Sharp cusps | Expect thin edges at cusps |
| Rose, RationalRose | Deep valleys between petals | Many petals create thin sections near center |
| Cycloid (Hypo mode) | Sharp inward cusps | Low cusp count = extreme thin points |
💡 Slicer showing missing sections? Increase wall thickness — complex shapes have pinch points where thin walls can't be sliced.