Construction of wood patterns for lower volume casting yields
for many years has been done by hand. Pattern makers would
convert the 2 dimensional drawings of the castings into a 3D
work-of-art blending areas that we not clearly defined using pure skill
and experience.
With CAD system power
constantly improving the ways of the
past need to be transformed into a modern approach.
More OEM product designs are moving away from blue print definition to
3D CAD
solids models.
Once JP Pattern receives such a model from our
customer our next
step is to refine it to
include smooth surfaces and all features necessary to construct the
desired type of tooling.
From
this model the tooling
components are then modeled. Here we
have the drag half of the pattern followed by cover core box master or
negative.
With a creative setup approach, machining all of the details
becomes more accessible. This insures all of the geometry
will be cut to match the CAD model leaving no hand blending of surfaces.
The components are then inspected to the CAD model to insure
accuracy and that no interferrance conditions exists.
From the
machined master the cover
core is layed up in fiberglass.
The finishing touches are put on the pattern equipment, cover-core, drag pattern and center core box.
