Patternmakers, Wood
Plan, lay out, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.
- Median pay
- $49,630
- Doing it now
- 600
- By 2035
- Down 2%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
100 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.
- Lay out patterns on wood stock and draw outlines of units, sectional patterns, or full-scale mock-ups of products, based on blueprint specifications and sketches, and using marking and measuring devices.
- Verify dimensions of completed patterns, using templates, straightedges, calipers, or protractors.
- Set up, operate, and adjust a variety of woodworking machines such as bandsaws and lathes to cut and shape sections, parts, and patterns, according to specifications.
- Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.
- Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, and screws.
- Correct patterns to compensate for defects in castings.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- WoodworkingSee 5 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Creative and expressive
Organised and precise
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $49,630 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.