3D Sculpting Simulation — Pottery Wheel Lathe

Shape Presets

Sculpting Tool

Switch to Carve mode, then press and drag on the spinning form to cut or build up clay with the chisel.

Chisel width 0.35

Cut strength 0.6

Wheel

Spin speed 0.6 rad/s

Radial resolution 40 facets

Live Readouts

Volume (disk method)

0.00 u³

Max radius

0.00 u

Mesh facets (radial × height)

0 × 0

How it works

The form is a solid of revolution: a 2D radius profile r(y) is swept a full turn around the central axis, exactly how a real potter's wheel or a lathe removes/builds material from a spinning blank. Three.js builds this with LatheGeometry, re-triangulating the surface every time the profile changes.

Profile:   r = r(y),  y ∈ [0, H]
Revolve:   x = r(y)·cosθ,  z = r(y)·sinθ,  θ ∈ [0, 2π)
Volume (disk/washer method):
  V = π · ∫₀ᴴ r(y)² dy  ≈  π · Σ (r_i² + r_{i+1}²)/2 · Δy

The chisel tool works in the object's own local frame, so it always cuts a true circular groove even while the wheel is spinning — the same reason a real lathe tool produces perfectly round results without the operator tracking rotation. Dragging in Carve → Remove lowers r(y) inside the tool's height window (weighted by distance from the tool centre); Add raises it, like pressing clay back onto the wall. Radial resolution controls how many flat facets approximate the round surface — low values reveal the underlying polygon mesh, matching how any 3D sculpting/CAD tool discretises a curved surface for rendering.

Orbit mode — drag to rotate view

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