diff --git a/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/TemplatesModelProvider.java b/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/TemplatesModelProvider.java
index d9ca0a3..2bc08c3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/TemplatesModelProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/TemplatesModelProvider.java
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 package io.github.cottonmc.templates;
 
+import io.github.cottonmc.templates.model.TemplateAppearance;
+import io.github.cottonmc.templates.model.TemplateAppearanceManager;
 import net.fabricmc.fabric.api.client.model.ModelProviderContext;
 import net.fabricmc.fabric.api.client.model.ModelProviderException;
 import net.fabricmc.fabric.api.client.model.ModelResourceProvider;
 import net.fabricmc.fabric.api.client.model.ModelVariantProvider;
 import net.minecraft.client.render.model.UnbakedModel;
+import net.minecraft.client.texture.Sprite;
 import net.minecraft.client.util.ModelIdentifier;
+import net.minecraft.client.util.SpriteIdentifier;
 import net.minecraft.item.ItemConvertible;
 import net.minecraft.registry.Registries;
 import net.minecraft.util.Identifier;
@@ -13,6 +17,8 @@ import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 
 public class TemplatesModelProvider implements ModelResourceProvider, ModelVariantProvider {
@@ -20,6 +26,9 @@ public class TemplatesModelProvider implements ModelResourceProvider, ModelVaria
 	private final Map<ModelIdentifier, Identifier> itemAssignments = new HashMap<>();
 	
 	private final Map<Identifier, UnbakedModel> cache = new HashMap<>();
+	private volatile TemplateAppearanceManager appearanceManager;
+	
+	/// model loading
 	
 	@Override
 	public @Nullable UnbakedModel loadModelResource(Identifier resourceId, ModelProviderContext context) throws ModelProviderException {
@@ -50,7 +59,38 @@ public class TemplatesModelProvider implements ModelResourceProvider, ModelVaria
 		return customModelId == null ? null : loadModelResource(customModelId, context);
 	}
 	
-	// "public api"
+	/// template appearance manager cache, & other cache stuff
+	
+	public TemplateAppearanceManager getOrCreateTemplateApperanceManager(Function<SpriteIdentifier, Sprite> spriteLookup) {
+		//This is kind of needlessly fancy using the volatile "double checked locking" pattern.
+		//I'd like all the template models to use the same TemplateApperanceManager, despite the model
+		//making process happening concurrently on several threads.
+		
+		//Volatile field read:
+		TemplateAppearanceManager read = appearanceManager;
+		
+		if(read == null) {
+			//Acquire a lock:
+			synchronized(this) {
+				//There's a chance another thread just initialized the object and released the lock
+				//while we were waiting for it, so we do another volatile field read (the "double check"):
+				read = appearanceManager;
+				if(read == null) {
+					//If no-one has initialized it still, I guess we should do it
+					read = appearanceManager = new TemplateAppearanceManager(spriteLookup);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		
+		return Objects.requireNonNull(read);
+	}
+	
+	public void dumpCache() {
+		cache.clear();
+		appearanceManager = null;
+	}
+	
+	/// "public api"
 	
 	public void addTemplateModel(Identifier id, Supplier<UnbakedModel> modelFactory) {
 		factories.put(id, modelFactory);
@@ -67,8 +107,4 @@ public class TemplatesModelProvider implements ModelResourceProvider, ModelVaria
 	public void assignItemModel(Identifier templateModelId, ItemConvertible... itemConvs) {
 		for(ItemConvertible itemConv : itemConvs) assignItemModel(templateModelId, Registries.ITEM.getId(itemConv.asItem()));
 	}
-	
-	public void dumpCache() {
-		cache.clear();
-	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/model/SlopeUnbakedModel.java b/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/model/SlopeUnbakedModel.java
index b66c7f2..a982b4c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/model/SlopeUnbakedModel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/github/cottonmc/templates/model/SlopeUnbakedModel.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.github.cottonmc.templates.model;
 
+import io.github.cottonmc.templates.TemplatesClient;
 import net.minecraft.block.Blocks;
 import net.minecraft.client.render.block.BlockModels;
 import net.minecraft.client.render.model.BakedModel;
@@ -27,14 +28,14 @@ public class SlopeUnbakedModel implements UnbakedModel {
 	
 	@Override
 	public BakedModel bake(Baker baker, Function<SpriteIdentifier, Sprite> spriteLookup, ModelBakeSettings modelBakeSettings, Identifier identifier) {
-		//TODO: this is weird, should use my own model instead.
-		// I should also adjust the item frame/first-person rotations (previously I used SANDSTONE_STAIRS, which has models/block/stairs.json as a parent,
-		// and that one brings some extra custom rotations along for the ride
-		BakedModel baseModel = baker.bake(BlockModels.getModelId(Blocks.SANDSTONE.getDefaultState()), modelBakeSettings);
-		
-		//TODO: push this up (it's just a cache of data sourced from blockmodels, and can be shared among *all* templates/cached until resource-reload)
-		TemplateAppearanceManager tam = new TemplateAppearanceManager(spriteLookup);
-		
-		return new TemplateBakedModel(baseModel, tam, modelBakeSettings.getRotation(), SlopeBaseMesh.make());
+		return new TemplateBakedModel(
+			//TODO: this is weird, should use my own model instead.
+			// I should also adjust the item frame/first-person rotations (previously I used SANDSTONE_STAIRS, which has models/block/stairs.json as a parent,
+			// and that one brings some extra custom rotations along for the ride
+			baker.bake(BlockModels.getModelId(Blocks.SANDSTONE.getDefaultState()), modelBakeSettings),
+			TemplatesClient.provider.getOrCreateTemplateApperanceManager(spriteLookup),
+			modelBakeSettings.getRotation(),
+			SlopeBaseMesh.make()
+		);
 	}
 }