Skilled Trades
Patternmakers, Wood
Plan, lay out, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.
Median salary (BLS)
$49,630
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$38k – $84k
Job outlook
No separate BLS projection for this specific role
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $70,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Patternmakers, Wood
Education
Typical entry: No degree (trade/license)
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Junior Patternmakers, Wood
Entry / Junior
$37,600
~2 yrs to advance
Patternmakers, Wood
Established
$49,630
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Patternmakers, Wood
Senior
$66,705
Key skills
A typical day
- •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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Skilled Trades
Explore all- Purdue University50% admit · $78,000 grad pay
- Ohio State University53% admit · $68,000 grad pay
- Pennsylvania State University55% admit · $70,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.