Foundry Mold and Coremakers
Make or form wax or sand cores or molds used in the production of metal castings in foundries.
12,790 people do this job in the US. $48,110 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 13 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sift and pack sand into mold sections, core boxes, and pattern contours, using hand or pneumatic ramming tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 17% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate ovens or furnaces to bake cores or to melt, skim, and flux metal.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean and smooth molds, cores, and core boxes, and repair surface imperfections.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Form and assemble slab cores around patterns, and position wire in mold sections to reinforce molds, using hand tools and glue.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Position cores into lower sections of molds, and reassemble molds for pouring.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Move and position workpieces, such as mold sections, patterns, and bottom boards, using cranes, or signal others to move workpieces.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Position patterns inside mold sections, and clamp sections together.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Tend machines that bond cope and drag together to form completed shell molds.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut spouts, runner holes, and sprue holes into molds.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Rotate sweep boards around spindles to make symmetrical molds for convex impressions.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 29 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Lift upper mold sections from lower sections, and remove molded patterns.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Sprinkle or spray parting agents onto patterns and mold sections to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic0% now, 0% by 2028
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic6% now, 6% by 2028
- Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand11% now, 11% by 2028
- Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons0% now, 0% by 2028
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders14% now, 14% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).