Foundry Mold and Coremakers
51-4071.00
Updated 2022

Make or form wax or sand cores or molds used in the production of metal castings in foundries.

Sample of reported job titles: Core Maker, Core Setter, Core Stripper, Mold Maker, Molder, No Bake Molder, Sand Molder

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Sift and pack sand into mold sections, core boxes, and pattern contours, using hand or pneumatic ramming tools.
  • Clean and smooth molds, cores, and core boxes, and repair surface imperfections.
  • Form and assemble slab cores around patterns, and position wire in mold sections to reinforce molds, using hand tools and glue.
  • Move and position workpieces, such as mold sections, patterns, and bottom boards, using cranes, or signal others to move workpieces.
  • Sprinkle or spray parting agents onto patterns and mold sections to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
  • Position cores into lower sections of molds, and reassemble molds for pouring.
  • Tend machines that bond cope and drag together to form completed shell molds.
  • Cut spouts, runner holes, and sprue holes into molds.
  • Operate ovens or furnaces to bake cores or to melt, skim, and flux metal.
  • Position patterns inside mold sections, and clamp sections together.
  • Lift upper mold sections from lower sections, and remove molded patterns.
  • Rotate sweep boards around spindles to make symmetrical molds for convex impressions.
  • Pour molten metal into molds, manually or with crane ladles.
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Technology Skills

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Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
  • Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment — Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
  • Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.

Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 100% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Standing — 96% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 87% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Exposed to Contaminants — 80% responded “Every day.”
  • Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable — 80% responded “Every day.”
  • Very Hot or Cold Temperatures — 66% responded “Every day.”
  • Time Pressure — 62% responded “Every day.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 45% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Spend Time Bending or Twisting the Body — 46% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 38% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 48% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Indoors, Not Environmentally Controlled — 59% responded “Every day.”
  • Contact With Others — 40% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • Physical Proximity — 35% responded “Very close (near touching).”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 35% responded “Every day.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 36% responded “Moderate results.”
  • Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment — 35% responded “Important.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 76% responded “40 hours.”
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 46% responded “Very important.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 51% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Walking and Running — 38% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Exposed to Hazardous Conditions — 52% responded “Every day.”
  • Exposed to Hazardous Equipment — 55% responded “Every day.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 37% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 33% responded “Moderate responsibility.”
  • Consequence of Error — 38% responded “Serious.”
  • Coordinate or Lead Others — 34% responded “Important.”
  • Spend Time Kneeling, Crouching, Stooping, or Crawling — 35% responded “Continually or almost continually.”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Education
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Related Experience
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include orderlies, counter and rental clerks, customer service representatives, security guards, upholsterers, tellers, and dental laboratory technicians.
SVP Range
3 months to 1 year of preparation (4.0 to < 6.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
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Certifications
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Apprenticeships
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Worker Requirements

Skills

  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Knowledge

  • Production and Processing — Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • 54%
     
    High school diploma or equivalent required
  • 27%
     
    Less than high school diploma required
  • 13%
     
    Post-secondary certificate required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Manual Dexterity — The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Finger Dexterity — The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Trunk Strength — The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness — The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Multilimb Coordination — The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Static Strength — The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Control Precision — The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Reaction Time — The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Stamina — The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Auditory Attention — The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Dynamic Strength — The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Extent Flexibility — The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Rate Control — The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Visualization — The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.

Interests

Interest code: RC
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  • Realistic — Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.
  • Conventional — Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Work Values

  • Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
  • Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
  • Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Work Styles

  • Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
  • Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  • Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  • Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  • Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
  • Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
  • Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  • Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  • Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
  • Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  • Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  • Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
  • Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
  • Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
  • Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wages (2022)
$19.29 hourly, $40,120 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2021)
14,000 employees
Projected growth (2021-2031)
Decline (-2% or lower)
Projected job openings (2021-2031)
1,200
State trends
Top industries (2021)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 wage data and 2021-2031 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2021-2031). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
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