High School

If you are interested in becoming a coremaker, classes in mathematics, blueprint reading, drafting, computers, English, and shop will be helpful. In particular, shop courses that provide hands-on training in the use of hand tools and machinery are especially relevant to the job.

Postsecondary Training

Most coremakers learn the actual skills necessary for their work through on-the-job training or apprenticeships. Apprenticeships offer the most thorough training for this work, and competition for the limited number of openings is keen. To find out about apprenticeships in your state, contact your state's apprenticeship council or your state's Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services. (For office addresses, visit https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship.) Apprentices receive on-the-job training from skilled coremakers in a planned program that teaches them all phases of coremaking. They learn bench coremaking, floor work, oven tending, machine coremaking, core finishing, core assembling, and other skills necessary for intricate multiple-part coremaking. Apprenticeships, which typically last four years, also include classroom instruction in related subjects, such as applied mathematics and the study of the different qualities of various metals. In most cases, applicants for apprenticeships need to be high school graduates.

Other Education or Training

The American Foundry Society (AFS), via its AFS Institute, offers more than 30 courses, seminars, and workshops covering a variety of metal casting subjects. Educational opportunities are provided both in-person and online at AFS headquarters, via in-plant seminars, and at other locations throughout North America. Contact the AFS for more information. 

Certification or Licensing

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills offers a variety of certification credentials in machining, metalforming, machine maintenance, and other areas. Contact the institute for more information. 

Coremakers begin by learning the skills necessary to perform their work through on-the-job training or apprenticeships, with the latter offering the most thorough training for this work.

Students interested in becoming coremakers should have mathematical aptitude and the ability to visualize three-dimensional objects by reading blueprints and drawings. Coremakers are detail oriented and many work with little direct supervision, so those interested in this type of work should be self-disciplined and self-motivated, and should be able to schedule projects to meet deadlines. Because the work can be quite strenuous, coremakers should be in good health. Some types of hand coremaking require a high degree of manual dexterity.