Glossary
Foundry Moldmaker Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential foundry moldmaker terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key foundry moldmaker vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in foundry moldmaker training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Casting
- Part made by pouring metal.
- Cope
- Top half.
- Core
- Forms internal cavities.
- Core print
- Seat for a core.
- Drag
- Bottom half.
- Flask
- Frame holding sand.
- Green sand
- Moist clay-bonded sand.
- Mold
- Cavity that shapes metal.
- Mold wash
- Coating for finish.
- No-bake sand
- Chemically bonded sand.
- Permeability
- Gas flow through sand.
- Ramming
- Packing sand.
- Sand mold
- Mold made of packed sand.
- Shrinkage
- Metal contraction when cooling.
- Vent
- Lets gases escape.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Foundry Moldmaker practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Foundry Moldmaker training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.