Bracken3621
New member
Jelly":a83vwzu2 said:Bracken3621":a83vwzu2 said:It's not a dying trade as you may think.
They will always need Pattern Makers granted times have changed but " there is nothing new, just a variation of the old."
Shrinking Trade might be more appropriate, I was made redundant last year and decided to try to get an apprenticeship as a patternmaker, speaking to about 15 pattern shops and foundries they all had a similar answer in the vein of
"We need to replace someone who's retiring soon, and would be interested in taking someone on... But sales are down and we need them to stabilise before we take anyone on, can you contact us next spring if you're still looking"
I had a long chat with the owner of one foundry, who was explaining how their sand casting operations had changed over time to accommodate larger and more complex pours in increasingly high specifications of alloys, and we both lamented the O&G downturn.
The Plastic's & Carbon Fiber are moving fast as is the Motor Designers. Patter Makers have many strings to their bow, best to think out side the box but a good balanced apprenticeship helps I agree, did you ask them for some work experience ? There are so many way to skin a cat " as they say " If the company see you are so keen as to work/learn you may get a foot in the door ? + help for you and them is available.