Intro to Patternmaking for Metal Foundry Work

If you have ever made a sand-castle on the beach, as a child, then you are fully qualified to make a sand mold for casting metal!

This class will explore some of the odd requirements for making a mold in sand (or other materials, too!) that you can fill with some type of molten metal, to generate a useful or beautiful object. 

We will cover the basics of sand casting for metal pouring molds, the specific requirements for different levels of metal pouring, and just how you design a sand mold (or mold made of some other material) so that you can successfully pour an object.

We'll cover much of the material you need to know, to make your pattern, how to build a pattern, what you need for a successful pattern, and things to avoid when designing a pattern.

We'll also cover Master Patterns, production patterns, and different grades of patterns, from single use types, to having the ability to produce hundreds or even THOUSANDS of useable patterns for an art object, a machine part, or any other useful item. We will also touch on jewelry casting (Lost Wax) and explore some of the advantages of that process. 

We'll also examine problems with patterns, and how to solve them.

I will bring a large number of patterns and casting examples that you can handle and touch, to see what I am talking about, and I plan on bringing some molding sand and some simple patterns so you can see what making a sand mold is all about.  This may be a chance for you to make your very first sand mold for casting, depending on the number of attendees and how much time we have.  

If you have a question about casting, bring it to this class, and we can talk about it. If you are contemplating making a casting, bring your pattern to show, and we will cover the various options there are for producing your pattern.