Career profile Wood Patternmaker

Table of Contents

• What does a Wood Patternmaker do?
• What is a typical salary for a Wood Patternmaker?
• What personality traits are common among Wood Patternmakers?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Wood Patternmakers need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Wood Patternmaker do?

Wood Patternmakers plan, lay out, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.

What kind of tasks does a Wood Patternmaker perform regularly?

Wood Patternmakers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.
• Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, and screws.
• 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.
• Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.
• Divide patterns into sections according to shapes of castings to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
• Verify dimensions of completed patterns, using templates, straightedges, calipers, or protractors.
• Correct patterns to compensate for defects in castings.
• 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.
• Finish completed products or models with shellac, lacquer, wax, or paint.
• Estimate costs for patternmaking jobs.
• Mark identifying information such as colors or codes on patterns, parts, and templates to indicate assembly methods.
• Repair broken or damaged patterns.
• Maintain pattern records for reference.
• Glue fillets along interior angles of patterns.
• Construct wooden models, templates, full scale mock-ups, jigs, or molds for shaping parts of products.
• Compute dimensions, areas, volumes, and weights.
• Select lumber to be used for patterns.
• Collect and store patterns and lumber.
• Inventory equipment and supplies, ordering parts and tools as necessary.

The above responsibilities are specific to Wood Patternmakers. More generally, Wood Patternmakers are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Wood Patternmaker salary?

What personality traits are common among Wood Patternmakers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Wood Patternmaker are usually higher in their Realistic, Investigative, and Artistic interests.

Wood Patternmakers typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Also, Wood Patternmakers typically have moderate Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Lastly, Wood Patternmakers typically have moderate Artistic interests. Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Wood Patternmakers typically have moderate Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Wood Patternmaker tend to value Support, Relationships, and Independence.

Most importantly, Wood Patternmakers strongly value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Wood Patternmakers moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Wood Patternmakers moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Wood Patternmakers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, dependability, and initiative.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Wood Patternmakers, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Wood Patternmakers need?

Wood Patternmakers often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Wood Patternmakers usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Wood Patternmakers

• 16.0% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 35.8% completed high school or secondary school
• 21.7% completed some college coursework
• 8.3% earned a Associate's degree
• 14.0% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 3.7% earned a Master's degree
• 0.5% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Wood Patternmakers

Important Abilities needed by Wood Patternmakers

Wood Patternmakers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Wood Patternmakers need abilities such as manual dexterity, arm-hand steadiness, and control precision in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Wood Patternmakers, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Wood Patternmakers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Wood Patternmakers frequently use skills like reading comprehension, monitoring, and complex problem solving to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Wood Patternmakers, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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