Lost wax casting process is the most
accepted procedure for making patterns of virtually anything and
everything. This pattern-making process is in vogue since time
immemorial! It is an integral part of the manufacturing process. Any
new product requires the pattern first. A sample peace is taken out and
only after approval it go for the final production.
Even a small button requires the pattern-making first. If you wish
to cast a mighty elephant in brass or any other metal, it also requires
pattern making first. In the manufacturing process, the only action
that precedes pattern making, is the designing on the paper. With the
details provided in the design, the pattern maker, call him an
engraver, makes the production-worthy pattern.
The second process for pattern making is investment casting. This
method is used for a wide range of applications. This has developed
into a foremost technique of modern industry. To put it in the proper
perspective, the old pattern making industry has been modernized.
Investment casting got the real fillip during 1980 due to the
unprecedented growth of the aircraft industry. Investment casting in
the foundry industry accounts for 15% of the value of cast metal
production. It really is the modernization of an ancient art.
Lost wax casting method, as earlier said was used for making dental
inlays, metal sculpture and surgical implants. It was mostly used in
making copper and brass statues. Impetus to this craft and thousands of
new part patterns were created to meet the demands of the war. Even
today this method is used for manufacturing small and big brass, copper
and bronze statues.
Pattern making is an art involving lots of intricacies. To become a
perfect pattern-maker, it takes anything from 3 to 4 years. Even though
computers have taken over the job of making patterns of late, the human
expertise required in understanding the patterns for eventually taking
out the production out of them, is still important.
In fact, handmade craft patterns do not cost anything. Some sample
peaces of the craft are given to the manufacturers and on the basis of
that manufacturing process commences. The amount of human labor
involved in such craft products is much and patterns come to play their
role in the process involved in the basic manufacturing material
required for the final product.
Take for example, the production of an item, Christmas
hanger-tassel! It is totally handmade, but the beads of different types
and sizes roll out of the patterns!
