Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Designation of occupation

Metal and bell founder (m/f)
Recognized by ordinance of 15. May 1998 (BGBl. I, p. 996)

Duration of traineeship

3 years
One third of the training time is devoted to one of three branches:

• tin casting
• art and bell casting
• metal casting

The venues for training are company and vocational school (Berufsschule)

Field of activity

Metal and bell founders (m/f) fabricate cast metal products. The products they make range from fittings, housings, bearing shells, tankards, pots and tumblers to statues and bells of all types. Their work also involves repairing and restoring items, taking account of stylistic requirements. They work predominantly in workshops but also on building and installation sites.

Occupational skills

Common skills

Metal and bell founders (m/f)

• plan work sequences and inspect and evaluate finished work;
• work to working documents and technical drawings;
• make sketches, drawings and patterns;
• alloy, smelt and cast metals.

Skills in specialist area

Metal and bell founders specializing in tin casting

• create and fabricate tin objects of all kinds;
• fabricate auxiliary moulds;
• shape surfaces;
• repair, restore and conserve tin objects.

Metal and bell founders specializing in art and bell casting

• mould patterns for art castings using the sand casting technique;
• mould patterns using the lost-wax process;
• fabricate wax patterns;
• fabricate bells using loam and sand casting techniques.

Metal and bell founders specializing in metal casting

• mould patterns using the sand casting technique;
• mould plastic patterns using the full mould casting technique;
• fabricate lost-wax patterns;
• mould and cast lost-wax patterns.

Last modified on: December 12, 2006