Lay out cuts from the plan
Start with the plan, work out the sizes you need, then pencil cutting lines onto the wood.
Career profile
Wood Patternmaker
Patternmakers build wooden patterns that are pressed into sand to shape molds for metal castings.
Each metal casting depends on its pattern. Patternmaking suits people who like using woodworking skill to turn paper plans into exact objects they can hold.
A day in the life
Shape and join the parts
Shape parts on a lathe or saws, then fit them together and fasten them into one pattern.
Split a complicated pattern
You divide a complicated pattern into sections so it can come out of the mold.
Measure and correct the pattern
Confirm sizes with templates or calipers, and change the pattern when cast parts come out flawed.
Quick facts
High school diploma or equivalent
United States · 2025–2035
$49,630 a year
United States · May 2025
2% decline
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
High school diploma or equivalentThe typical education level for entering this occupation.
Pay
$49,630 a yearNational median employee wage; equivalent to $23.86 an hour.
Outlook
2% declineEmployment is projected to shrink slightly, with about 100 openings a year nationally.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy figuring out how separate pieces form a complicated shape.
- You like checking a measurement before calling something finished.
Things to weigh
- Long stretches of standing and work around hazardous machinery can be tiring.
- Deadlines can press while the work still demands accuracy.
Where AI may help
Some shops turn digital models into machine instructions and use three-dimensional printing for prototypes. Computer numerical control (CNC) machines then cut the programmed shapes.
What people still lead
People still choose and approve the design, prepare finished patterns, and repair damaged tooling. A machine-cut shape still has to work in the foundry.
What we can’t predict yet
How much hand shaping remains will depend on the parts and materials a shop handles. Mixed-material shops may shift more work toward programming, while retaining fitting and repair work.
Pay in context
Earnings
Use the national figures as a comparison point when you look at an offer, not as a promised starting wage.
The national midpoint
Wood patternmakers had a median wage of $49,630 a year, or $23.86 an hour. Half earned more and half earned less.
A wide spread
The 10th-to-90th-percentile range was $37,600–$83,780 a year, or $18.08–$40.28 an hour. These are positions in the wage distribution, not beginner and experienced pay rates.
A small hiring market
Employment is projected to decline 2% over the decade. About 100 openings per year are projected nationally, so openings can exist even while total employment falls.
Getting started
Start as an apprentice
Paid
- What the route involves
- Enter a paid patternmaking apprenticeship and learn wood selection, machine use and assembly with experienced workers.
- What it can lead to
- You build toward skilled patternmaker work through workplace training and related classes.
- What to check
- Anderson Global accepts candidates from high school without prior job training. Its foundry tooling program covers more than wood; ask which materials and assignments you would learn.
Bring relevant shop experience
- What the route involves
- Apply with relevant on-the-job training from another employer and have that experience assessed for advanced apprenticeship entry.
- What it can lead to
- At Anderson Global, accepted experience—and sometimes matching college coursework—can count toward completing the apprenticeship.
- What to check
- Credit depends on the program's assessment; coursework alone does not meet this route's experience requirement.
You learn this trade through shop practice. Apprenticeship can start that training; relevant experience can also count toward it.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn to select wood and tools, then make simple patterns with sound joints and consistent shapes.
Handle harder shapes
Build larger, unusually shaped or collapsible patterns that require more planning before cutting.
Develop a machining specialty
Deepen your computer-aided design and manufacturing skills so you can help turn digital shapes into machine tool paths and finished patterns.
Where you can work
A pattern shop inside a foundry
Some foundry shops concentrate on repairing patterns and mounting them for molding, while outside suppliers build complete new patterns. Your work keeps existing tooling usable for casting production.
- Indoors
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
An independent pattern supplier
You help turn customers' drawings into tooling for other companies. Shops may combine wooden patterns with foam, plastic or metal work and digital modeling, so the material and process can change between projects.
- Indoors
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Press a small toy block into modeling clay, then lift it out without disturbing the impression. Sketch a more complicated shape and mark where you would split it to make removal easier. Notice whether planning the removal interests you as much as making the shape.
Stay safe: Use only modeling clay and blunt objects; this exercise needs no cutting tools or molten metal.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Patternmakers, Wood — 51-7032.00. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- The Apprentice School, Newport News Shipbuilding. Patternmaker. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Anderson Global. Careers. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Wirco. In-House Pattern Construction. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Star Foundry & Machine. Pattern Making. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Capital Pattern and Model. Foundry Tooling and Reverse Engineering. Accessed 2026-10-09.