Foundry Pattern Shop and Tooling Maintenance

Accurate castings begin with accurate patterns. At Hiler Industries, our in-house pattern shop combines advanced technology, experienced craftsmanship and careful tooling maintenance to create custom casting patterns designed around each customer’s casting requirements.

From straightforward components to highly complex geometries, we develop precise patterns that support our shell molding process and help ensure finished castings consistently meet customer specifications. By keeping pattern development, dimensional verification and tooling maintenance closely connected to our casting operations, we can maintain greater control over quality from the earliest stages of a project through production.

The quality of a finished casting depends heavily on the quality and accuracy of the pattern used to create the mold. Our pattern shop creates tooling with the dimensional consistency required to support precise shell molded castings.

Hiler Industries uses the shell mold casting process, in which resin-coated sand is introduced to a heated metal pattern. The resin bonds the fine sand together to form a hardened shell that accurately reproduces the pattern’s shape. Since a shell molding can reproduce complex geometries and detailed surfaces, while maintaining tight tolerances, precision at the pattern stage is especially important.

Our in-house approach also helps streamline the transition from tooling and prototyping to full production. Instead of treating patternmaking as an isolated step, we consider how tooling design, metal flow, gating, dimensional requirements and downstream manufacturing processes work together.

Our In-House Pattern Shop Offers:

• CNC-machined patterns that provide close and consistent casting tolerances
• Reduced processing time from prototyping through production
• Solidification capabilities to ensure optimal metal flow and efficient gating
• In-house 3D scanning capabilities that provide dimensional verification for sampling purposes with our Creaform HandySCAN 700 equipment

Shell molding is well suited for components that require dimensional consistency, complex geometries and high-quality surface finishes. Compared with traditional green sand casting, the process uses finer resin-coated sand and can reproduce more detailed surfaces. It also typically requires less draft and can reduce the amount of machining stock required on a finished casting.

Hiler Industries has found that shell molding can provide near-net-shape results that reduce unnecessary casting weight and subsequent machining. In some applications, working closely with customers has even created opportunities to eliminate machining operations.

Verification is another important part of pattern development and casting quality. Our Creaform HandySCAN 700 equipment provides in-house 3D scanning capabilities for dimensional verification during sampling.

Digital scanning allows our team to compare physical geometry with dimensional requirements and gather detailed information about a sample part. Incorporating this capability into our pattern and casting operations supports our broader focus on accuracy, process control and continual improvement.

Hiler Industries’ patterns are typically built to a standard envelope size of:

• 15” x 20”
• 16” x 22”
• 16” x 24”

Our focus on total quality begins with the tooling process. Pattern tooling is uniquely built by CNC machines to your specifications. To extend tooling life patterns, they are built with a high-grade ductile iron, and their usage is monitored through data tracking software.

Monitoring tooling usage helps our team manage patterns throughout their service life rather than waiting for tooling-related issues to affect production. A proactive approach to tooling maintenance supports consistent mold quality, dimensional repeatability and dependable production over the life of a program.

This attention to tooling is part of Hiler Industries’ larger commitment to quality. Our operations are ISO 9001 certified, and we combine our pattern shop with two foundries, metallurgical capabilities, CNC machining, finishing and consolidated shipping services. This integrated manufacturing structure allows us to support castings from initial tooling through production and value-added operations ensuring superior quality.

Hiler Industries has specialized in shell molded castings since 1946. Today, our facilities produce gray, ductile and alloyed iron castings for customers across industries including construction, agriculture, commercial vehicles, railway, municipal equipment, truck trailers, tools and maintenance, and abrasive-resistant applications.

Whether you need tooling for a new casting program or dependable maintenance for an established pattern, our team is committed to maintaining the precision and consistency necessary for quality shell molded castings.

Need a pattern and casting partner that can support your project from tooling through production? Contact Hiler Industries to discuss your casting specifications, tooling requirements and production needs.