Pattern-Making by Frederick W. Turner and Daniel G. Town introduces the wooden patterns and related equipment used to make foundry molds. This first edition, first thousand, was published in 1914 by John Wiley & Sons in New York, with Chapman & Hall in London.
Understanding the pattern maker’s task
The authors were instructors at the Mechanic Arts High School in Boston. Their preface addresses young readers beginning the subject, emphasizing materials, tools and fundamental processes rather than assuming the experience of an established pattern maker.
The opening discussion places pattern making among related trades. Design, drafting, foundry work and machine-shop practice all influence the form of a useful pattern.
A pattern is therefore considered in relation to the casting it helps produce. The reader is asked to understand the work of the molder and core maker, as well as the drawing from which construction begins.
From drawing to casting
The early chapters examine foundry and machine-shop practice as factors determining the type of pattern. They explain why the finished object, its mold and the wooden pattern cannot simply be treated as identical shapes.
A separate chapter addresses allowances and their effects. These pages introduce the adjustments that connect a pattern with the later processes through which a casting is formed and finished.
This relationship is the book’s central practical lesson. Accurate woodworking depends on understanding what the wood is intended to accomplish in the foundry, not only on reproducing the visible outline of a drawing.
Tools, layouts and materials
The tool chapter brings together bench tools, machine tools and special equipment. Illustrations show the forms being discussed and help a beginner associate trade terms with particular implements.
Layouts and templets receive their own chapter. They provide a bridge between the dimensions on a drawing and the shapes that must be marked, checked and assembled in the shop.
The materials chapter considers construction, fastening and finishing. These subjects belong together because a pattern must preserve its intended shape and remain useful through handling and molding.
Readers interested in practical craft can follow how planning and material choice affect later work. The discussion is directed toward a specialized wooden tool whose service conditions differ from those of ordinary furniture.
Patterns and core prints
The authors next distinguish types of patterns and explain core prints. Drawings connect the form of the pattern with features needed to locate and support the core in the mold.
This is an important step for readers unfamiliar with foundry work. A core creates an internal space in a casting, while the pattern and its prints help determine where that space will lie.
The construction chapter develops the subject through illustrated forms. Instead of treating every pattern as a single solid block, the book introduces the decisions involved in producing different shapes and assemblies.
Core boxes, skeletons and sweeps
Core boxes and cores receive a substantial chapter of their own. The relationship between a core’s intended shape and the equipment used to form it extends the earlier discussion of patterns and molds.
Skeleton patterns and sweeps provide another approach. These sections show that a complete solid wooden reproduction is not the only way of establishing a form for molding.
The final chapter considers specialization in the pattern shop and foundry. It returns the student to the wider organization of the trade and the division of work that gives individual techniques their purpose.
Reading this introductory reference
This free ebook suits workshop historians, students exploring traditional casting processes and woodworkers interested in a technical branch of their craft. Its value lies in explaining relationships among drawings, patterns, molds, cores and castings in an introductory sequence.
The PDF contains 140 digital pages, including preliminary leaves, contents, illustrated chapters and closing material. The original title page supplies the authors, first-edition statement and 1914 imprint. Digital page positions differ from printed pagination; enlarge the sectional drawings when tracing how a pattern, core print or core box works. Historical machine and foundry practices should be read in their period context.
Book details
- Author: Frederick W. Turner and Daniel G. Town
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York; Chapman & Hall, Limited, London
- Year: 1914
- Edition: First edition, first thousand
- Digital length: 140 PDF pages
- Language: English
- File size: 4.06 MB
