A wood patternmaker builds the wooden shapes that foundries press into sand to make metal castings. The job is part woodworker, part geometry puzzle: you read a blueprint, picture the finished casting, and build a pattern that is bigger than the part (to allow for metal shrinkage), tapered so it pulls cleanly out of the sand, and split where it needs to be. This roadmap takes you from basic shop safety and blueprint reading, to building simple split patterns, to working to tight tolerances, using CAD and CNC, and troubleshooting casting defects. Most people enter with a high school diploma and
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Every stage from beginner to expert, with lessons, practice drills, projects, interview questions and free resources. Free with a Rolearch account.
Stage 1 of 3 · about 12 weeks
Work safely, read a simple drawing, measure accurately, and build a small accurate wooden part with hand tools and basic machines.
Shop safety and machine guarding
Bandsaws, lathes, jointers and planers cause serious injuries. Every shop will check that you respect them before they let you run anything alone.
Measuring and layout
A pattern is only useful if it is dimensionally right. Casting problems often start with a layout error of a few thousandths or a sixteenth of an inch.
Blueprint reading basics
Every job starts with a drawing. You need to know views, sections, dimensions, tolerances and symbols before you can plan a pattern.
Hand tools and sharpening
Finishing patterns means shaping and smoothing curves and fillets by hand with planes, chisels, rasps, files and scrapers. Sharp tools give clean, safe cuts.
Shop math: fractions, decimals, and trigonometry
You will convert fractions to decimals, work out tapers and angles, and add shrink allowance every day. Math is one of the top skills for this job.
Then 2 more stages (about 76 weeks in all) with lessons, drills, projects, 6 interview questions with strong answers and free resources.