Pattern Manufacturing and Storage

Goodwin Steel Castings manufactures patterns in-house, within our dedicated facility, utilising traditional pattern making skills in conjunction with the latest three-dimensional machining and inspection technology.

The pattern shop management have exceptional knowledge of the complexities associated with foundry production tooling which is required to produce complex geometries to tight dimensional engineering tolerances. The facility has the ability to produce bespoke project tooling in various mediums inclusive of ceramic, wood, resin and aluminium.

All patterns are produced in contraction to account for the liquid shrinkage during solidification of the alloy being cast. Full scale pre-production layouts are produced to identify individual mould sections, the applicable rates of contraction, moulding release taper and machining allowances. It is important that the correct contraction allowances are applied to pattern equipment to ensure geometric conformance of the casting produced.

Goodwin Steel Castings utilises automated machining for large scale patterns and verifies the geometric acceptance using laser scanning technology. This enables the pattern shop management to release production tooling to the casting facility with certainty.

For highly tuned pattern equipment, laser scanning of the mould cavity and the casting produced from it can be conducted. This facilitates the optimisation of extremely high accuracy production tooling.

The secure storage of pattern equipment and project tooling for the product life cycle is often over-looked at the time of casting acquisition. Goodwin Steel Castings have invested in a dedicated pattern storage facility with a sprinkler fire suppression system. This is in addition to our 24/7 on-site surveillance, to ensure that patterns and tooling are retained in a safe and secure environment, without equipment degradation through adverse storage.