Patternmakers, Wood
Plan, lay out, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Active Listening
- Mathematics
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Mathematics
- Design
- Engineering and Technology
- Mechanical
- Building and Construction
- Administration and Management
- Production and Processing
- Customer and Personal Service
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.
- Construct wooden models, templates, full scale mock-ups, jigs, or molds for shaping parts of products.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (57.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (24.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 4 years, up to and including 10 years (37.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Patternmakers, Wood is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 64% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 52% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 60% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 68% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 72% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 61% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 75% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 53% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 11.87%
- Contact with others about half the time: 2.55%
- Contact with others most of the time: 39.5%
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 26.74%
- Fairly important: 8.1%
- Important: 3.76%
- Very important: 25.48%
- Extremely important: 35.93%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2021
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 23.03%
- Very important: 40.02%
- Extremely important: 36.94%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2021
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 17.49%
- Some freedom: 31.72%
- A lot of freedom: 50.8%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2021
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.24%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.5%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.02%
- Every day: 45.24%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Conflict situations
- Never: 14.61%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.36%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.61%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.81%
- Every day: 10.62%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 27.54%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.9%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 41.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.71%
- Every day: 0.79%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2021
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 5.19%
- Fairly serious: 39.87%
- Serious: 21.66%
- Very serious: 24.34%
- Extremely serious: 8.93%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2021
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O*NET-SOC 51-7032.00 · SOC 51-7032 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8