Chapter :2

Patterns and Core Making

Outlines

Define Pattern
Function of Patterns
Requirements of patterns
Pattern types
Pattern materials
pattern equipment and tools
Selection of types of patterns
Pattern allowances
Core boxes and core prints
Finishing and color coding of patterns

Patterns and Core Making

A pattern is a form made of wood, metal,

plastic, or composite materials around which a
molding material (usually prepared by sand) is
formed to shape the casting cavity of a mold.
It is a replica of an object to be casted;
It is like the original object with some allowances;
The allowances are given to compensate for metal
shrinkage, provide sufficient metal for machining the
surface and facilitate moulding;
The pattern dimension is different from the final
dimension of the cast;
3

Contd
It is a physical model of the casting used to make the
mould.
Most patterns are removed from the completed
mold halves and used repeatedly to make many
duplicate molds.
When the pattern is withdraw, its imprint
provides the mould cavity, which is ultimately
filled with metal to become the casting.
If the casting is to be hollow, as in the case of
pipe fittings, additional patterns, referred to as
cores, are used to form these cavities.
4

Contd
The pattern set should comprise the patterns of the
casting and the gating system elements(sprue,
pouring basin, runner, ingate).
Quality of casting depends on the quality of pattern
material, the design and construction since patterns
are the forms for the castings, the casting can be no
better than the patterns from which it is made.
Where closed tolerances or smooth casting finishes
are desired, it is particularly important that patterns
be carefully designed, constructed, and finished.
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Function of Patterns
Patterns serve a variety of functions. The main purpose of the
pattern is to create a mould cavity, however to produce a casting
successfully and render it suitable for further processing the
pattern may be required to perform other functions besides
producing a mould cavity. These are briefly considered as follow:
i. Molding the gating system;
ii. Establishing the parting line;
iii. To accommodate the characteristics of metal cast
iv. To provide accurate dimension;
v. To provide a means to support cores;
vi. Patterns properly made and having finished and smooth surfaces
reduce casting defects;
vii.Properly constructed patterns minimize over all cost of the
casting.
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Requirements of Pattern Materials

To be suitable for use, the pattern material should be:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.

Easily worked, shaped and joined;

Light in weight;
Strong, hard and durable;
Resistant to wear and abrasion;
Resistant to corrosion, and to chemical reactions;
Dimensionally stable and unaffected by variations in
temperature and humidity;
vii. Available at low cost.
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Pattern Materials
Pattern may be constructed from the following materials:Wood :- it is the most common material for making patterns for sand
casting
Advantages:Inexpensive;
Easily available in large quantities;
Easy to machine and shape to different configuration and forms;
Easy to join to get complex & large pattern;
Light in weight ;
Easy to obtain good surface finish.
Limitations :Susceptible to shrinkage and swelling; Poor wear resistance;
Poor abrasion resistance (easily abraded by sand action);
Absorb moisture, consequently change shape and size;
Week compared to metal pattern.
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Metallic patterns
Metal:- is particularly well suited to long production
runs.
Compared to wood patterns, metal patterns and core
boxes are:
More costly,
Stronger,
More abrasion resistant, and
Dimensionally stable under changing humidity.

Metal patterns are employed for large number of

castings.
Different metals and alloys for making patterns are: Aluminum and its alloy ,Cast iron, Brass, Steel
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Metallic patterns
These are advantageously used when a large number of castings
are desired from a pattern or when conditions for wooden
pattern are too sever.
Advantages of metallic patterns:
i. They do not change their shape when subjected to moist
conditions;
ii. They are free from warping in storage;
iii. They are very much suited to machine molding because of
their accuracy, durability and strength;
iv. They can withstand abrasion and rough handling;
v. Sometimes, they may not require to be cast from wooden
pattern but can be machined to desired shape;
vi. Easy to obtain smooth surface finish;
vii. They possess excellent resistance to swelling.
10

Contd
Commonly a metal pattern is itself cast from a
wooden pattern called master pattern when
metal patterns are to be cast from master patterns,
double pattern shrinkage must be allowed.
Limitations of metallic pattern:
i. Expensive than wood and hence not generally
suited for small production;
ii. Less easy to shape and work;
iii. Tendency to get rusted viz., cast iron.
iv. Excessive weight;
v. Cannot be repaired easily.
11

Plaster pattern
Patterns which are made up of plaster of Paris or gypsum cement (mostly
for shell molding)
Advantages:i. Intricate shapes can be cast without any difficulty;
ii. It has high compressive strength.
Wax patterns:
.Wax is traditionally used as a pattern material in investment castings;
.Synthetic waxes (Petroleum products) are used as a pattern material;
.Wax patterns provide:
i. a high degree of surface finish;
ii. dimensional accuracy casting;
iii. No chance of mold cavity getting damaged while removing the pattern,
b/c after molded the wax pattern is not taken out of the mold like other
patterns, rather the mold is inverted and heated thus the molten wax is
evaporated.
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Plastics and rubbers

Both thermosetting and thermo plastic materials are used as a
pattern materials;
Plastic patters:
i. Have castable nature;
ii. High strength to weight ratio;
iii. Have good adhesive qualities;
iv. Have a very smooth surface;
v. Have good resistance to chemical attack;
vi. Have better impact strength than wood;
vii. Have good resistance to wear and abrasion;
viii.Low cost of working;
ix. Do not absorb moisture;
x. Are strong and dimensionally stable.
13

Types of patterns and factors to select pattern

Various types of patterns are in use in foundry shops
The type of pattern selected for a particular casting will depend on:i. The shape and size of the casting;
ii. Number of castings required;
iii. Methods of molding or core making employed;
iv. The casting design;
v. Difficulty of the molding operation.
Commonly known types of patterns:1.Single piece or solid pattern;
2. Split piece Pattern;
3.Gated pattern;
4. Match plate pattern;
5.Loose piece pattern;
6.Skeleton pattern;
7.Sweep pattern;
8. Segmental pattern;
9. Shell pattern;
10. Cope and drag pattern , and others.

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Some of the commonly used patterns

a. solid pattern, (b) split pattern, (c) match-plate

pattern, and (d) cope-and-drag pattern

Solid pattern for a pinion gear

Sweep pattern
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Some of the commonly used patterns

Split pattern showing the two sections together

and separated.
Light-colored portions are core prints.

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Explained some of pattern types

Single Piece Pattern:
This pattern is made with out joints, parting or any loose
pieces in its construction;
Generally they are constructed from wood but may be made of
metal, plasters, wax or any other suitable material;
The one piece or single pattern is the most inexpensive of all
types of patterns;
This type of pattern is used only in cases where the job is very
simple and does not create any withdrawal problems;
A gating system is made in the mold by cutting sand with the
help of sand tools;
It is also used for application in very small-scale production or
in prototype development.
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Contd

Fig. Single piece pattern

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Split or Two Piece Pattern

Split or two piece pattern is most widely used type
of pattern for intricate castings;
It is split along the parting surface, the position of
which is determined by the shape of the casting;
One half of the pattern is molded in drag and the
other half in cope;
The two halves of the pattern must be aligned
properly by making use of the dowel pins, which
are fitted, to the cope half of the pattern;
These dowel pins match with the precisely made
holes in the drag half of the pattern.
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Split or Two Piece Pattern

Fig. Two piece pattern

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Gated Pattern
This is an improvement over the simple pattern where
the gating and runner system are integral with the
pattern.
This would eliminate the hand cutting of the runners
and gates and help in improving the productivity of a
molder.

Fig. A typical pattern attached with gating

and risering system

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Cope and Drag Pattern

These are similar to split patterns.
In addition to splitting the pattern, the cope and
drag halves of the pattern along with the gating and
risering systems are attached separately to the metal
or wooden plates along with the alignment pins.
The cope and drag moulds may be produced using
these patterns separately by two moulders but they
can be assembled to form a complete mould.
These types of patterns are used for castings which
are heavy and inconvenient for handling as also for
continuous production.
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Cope and Drag Pattern

Fig. Cope and Drag Pattern

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Match Plate Pattern

Here the cope and drag patterns along with the gating and risering
are mounted on a single matching plate on either side.
On one side of the match plate the cope flask is prepared and on
the other, the drag flask.
After moulding when the match plate is removed, a complete
mould with gating is obtained by joining the cope and the drag
together.
The complete pattern with match plate is entirely made of metal,
usually aluminium for its light weight and machinability.
But when dimensions are critical, the match plate may be made of
steel with necessary case hardening of the critical wear points.
The pattern and gating are either screwed to the match plate in the
case of a flat parting plane or made integral in case of an irregular
parting plane.
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Match Plate Pattern

Fig. Match Plate Pattern

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Loose Piece Pattern

This type of pattern is used when the contour of the
part is such that withdrawing the pattern from the
mould is not possible.
Hence during moulding the obstructing part of the
contour is held as a loose piece by a wire.
After moulding is over, first the main pattern is
removed and then loose pieces are recovered
through the gap generated by the main pattern.
Moulding with loose pieces is a highly skilled job
and is generally expensive and therefore, should be
avoided wherever possible.
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Loose Piece Pattern

Fig. Loose Piece Pattern

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Sweep Pattern
It is used to sweep the complete casting by
means of a plane sweep.
These are used for generating large shapes
which are axi-symmetrical or prismatic in
nature such as bell shaped or cylindrical.
This greatly reduces the cost of a three
dimensional pattern.
It is suitable for very large castings such as the
bells for ornamental purposes used which are
generally cast in pit moulds.
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Sweep Pattern

Fig. Sweep Pattern

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Pattern Allowances
Pattern allowance is a vital feature as it affects the dimensional
characteristics of the casting.
The patterns are not made the exact shape size at the desired
casting because such as a pattern would produced under size
casting.
Thus, when the pattern is produced, certain allowances must be
given on the sizes specified in the finished component drawing
so that a casting with the particular specification can be made.
The selection of correct allowances greatly helps to reduce
machining costs and avoid rejections.
The allowances usually considered on patterns and core boxes
are as follows:
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Pattern Allowances
1. Shrinkage or contraction allowance
2. Draft or taper allowance
3. Machining or finish allowance
4. Distortion or camber allowance
5. Rapping or shaking allowance

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1. Shrinkage or Contraction Allowance

Shrinkage allowance is the correction factor built into
the pattern to compensate for the contraction of the
metal casting as it solidifies and cools to room
temperature.
Almost all cast metals shrink or contract volumetrically
on cooling. The metal shrinkage is of two types:
i. Liquid Shrinkage: It refers to the reduction in
volume when the metal changes from liquid state to
solid state at the solidus temperature.
. To account for this shrinkage; risers, which feed the
liquid metal to the casting, are provided in the mold.
32

Contd
ii. Solid Shrinkage: It refers to the reduction in volume
caused when metal loses temperature in solid state.
To account for this, shrinkage allowance is provided on
the patterns.
The rate of contraction with temperature is dependent on
the material.
For example steel contracts to a higher degree compared
to aluminum.
To compensate the solid shrinkage, a shrink rule must be
used in laying out the measurements for the pattern.
The various rate of contraction of various materials are
given in Table I.
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Contd

34

Contd
The shrinkage allowance is always to be added to
the linear dimensions. Even in case of internal
dimensions (e.g. internal diameters of cylinders),
the material has a tendency to contract towards the
centre and thus are to be increased.
2. Draft or Taper Allowance:
By draft is meant the taper provided by the pattern
maker on all vertical surfaces of the pattern so that
it can be removed from the sand without tearing
away the sides of the sand mold and without
excessive rapping by the molder.
35

Contd
Draft allowance varies with the complexity of the
sand job. But in general inner details of the pattern
require higher draft than outer surfaces.
The amount of draft depends upon:
the length of the vertical side of the pattern to be extracted;
the intricacy of the pattern;
the method of molding; and
pattern material.

More draft needed to be provided for hand moulding

compared to machine moulding.
The draft is always provided as an extra metal over
and above the original casting dimensions.
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Contd

Fig. Draft Allowance

37

Contd

Table II: Suggested draft values for pattern

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3. Machining or Finish Allowance

The finish and accuracy achieved in sand casting are generally poor
and therefore when the casting is functionally required to be of
good surface finish or dimensionally accurate, it is generally
achieved by subsequent machining.
Machining or finish allowances are therefore added in the pattern
dimension.
Also, ferrous materials would have scales on the skin which are to
be removed by cleaning.
Finish allowance is the amount the dimensions on a casting are
made over size to provide stock for machining.
It is influenced by the metal, the casting design, the finish required,
the complexity of surface details, the method of casting and
cleaning.
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Contd

Fig. Machining Allowance

40

Contd

Table III: Suggested Machining Allowance values for pattern

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4. Distortion Allowance
A metal when it has just solidified, is very weak and
therefore is likely to be distortion prone.
Sometimes castings get distorted, during solidification,
due to their typical shape. For example, if the casting has
the form of the letter U, V, T, L or long flat portions etc.
it will tend to contract at the closed end causing the
vertical legs to look slightly inclined.
This can be prevented by making the legs of the U, V, T,
or L shaped pattern converge slightly (inward) so that the
casting after distortion will have its sides vertical.
This can be done by trial and error basis to get the
distortion amount.
42

Contd
Another way to take care of this phenomenon is to make extra
material provision for reducing the distortion.
The distortion in casting may occur due to internal stresses.
These internal stresses are caused on account of unequal
cooling of different section of the casting and hindered
contraction.
Measure taken to prevent the distortion in casting
includes:
Modification of casting design;
Providing sufficient machining allowance to cover the
distortion effect;
Providing suitable allowance on the pattern called camber
or distortion allowance( inverse reflection).
43

Contd

Fig. Distortion in castings

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5. Shake Allowance
Before the withdrawal from the sand mold, the pattern is
rapped all around the vertical faces to enlarge the mold
cavity slightly, which facilitate its removal.
Since it enlarges the final casting made, it is desirable that
the original pattern dimension should be reduced to
account for this increase.
There is no sure way of quantifying this allowance, since
it is highly dependent on the foundry personnel practice
involved.
It is a negative allowance and is to be applied only to
those dimensions that are parallel to the parting plane.
One way of reducing this allowance is to increase the draft
which can be removed during the subsequent machining.

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Pattern Tools and Equipment

Pattern Making Tools:
Measuring and layout tools:
Rule, Caliper rule, Shrink scale, Flexible rule, Making gauge, Try square,
T-bevel, Trammels, Steel square, Combination square, Dividers, and
Caliper
Sawing tools:
Coping saw, panel saw, compass saw, back saw, miter saw, pattern makers
saw
Planning tools:
Block plane, bench plane, router plane, circular plane, core box plane,
spoke shave.
Boring tools:
Brace, hand drill, auger bit, twist drill, countersink, doweling jig, bit gauge.
Clamping tools:
Hand screw, pattern makers vice, C-clamp, bar clamp, pinch dog.
46

Contd
Miscellaneous tools:
Claw hammer, Mallet, chisel, gouge, cabinet files, rasp, nail
set, brad awl, screw driver, fillet iron, brad pusher.

Machine used in pattern making:

Machines used for pattern making must be well built,
their accuracy should be dependable. They should be
well guarded to protect the worker from the hazards of
operation.
The machines used for pattern making are:
Circular saw, Band saw, Jig or Scroll saw, Jointer, Wood
turning lathe, abrasive-disc machine, Abrasive-belt machine,
Drills press, Grinder, Wooden planer, Wood shaper or wood
molder, Mortise, etc
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Core boxes and Core prints

Core Boxes
Cores defined as that as that portion of the mould, which forms the
hollow interior of the casting or hole through the castings.
Core can also defined as a body of dry sand generally prepared in a
core box, baked in an oven and used to form a cavity of desired
shape.
Cores can be prepared from sand, metal, plaster or ceramic.
Core boxes are the reverse patterns or reverse molds used to make
the cores that become part of the final mold assembly.
The term pattern equipment refers to the pattern itself and to all of
the core boxes needed to produce the cores that will be part of the
final mold assembly.
Because a given casting may have a complex internal shape or many
internal passageways, the cost of producing core boxes may exceed
that of the associated mold pattern.
48

Contd

A Typical Job, its Pattern and the Mold Cavity

49

Core Prints
When the production of a cast shape requires
cores, provision must be made on the pattern for
core prints.
Core prints are portions of the pattern that
locate and anchor the core in the proper position
in the mold.
The core print is added to the pattern (and
removed from the core box), but does not appear
on the final casting, because it is filled with the
core itself.
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Pattern colors
Patterns are imparted certain colors and shades in order to:
i. Identify the main body of the pattern and its different parts;
ii. Indicate the type of metal to be cast;
iii. Identify core prints, loose pieces, etc.
iv. Identify or visualize surface to be machined etc.
American color scheme is given below:
.The American color coding system is the most widely used color coding
system of patterns
i. Cast surface to be left un machined-Black
ii. Cast surface to be machined-Red
iii.Loose piece and seating-Red strips on yellow base
iv. Core print seats-Yellow
v. Stop-offs or supports-Black strip on a yellow back ground
vi.Parting surfaces-Clear or no color
vii.Core prints for machined openings-Yellow stripe on back ground. 51