Pattern for a finial - Made for the Fox California Theatre project, San Jose, California (click image for completed project).

One of the outcomes of building the products that HACI has is a large archive of the patterns which were used by our foundry to cast the parts.  At the time of this writing HACI’s pattern database shows a total of 4194 patterns.  These patterns were used to make the light fixtures, railings, grilles, gates, and canopies that are featured on our website as well as all of the other products that we have previously made.  The number of patterns in our database continues to grow as more work comes into our shop.

HACI’s pattern storage consists of two main components, the physical storage of the patterns and the database (or computerized storage) that contains all the information about them.

Physical Storage

The patterns themselves are stored in our warehouse in large wooden boxes.  Most of the crates measure 4′ wide x 8′ long x 2′ tall.  This size is generally able to accommodate the various sizes of patterns that HACI might use.  (There are times, however, when larger sized crates must be made).  Each of the boxes has a number assigned to it and each of the patterns within the crate has an identifier that is related to its parent box.  In this way, patterns can be stored properly after use without the need to look up their correct location in the database. Depending on the size and type of the patterns stored in each box, there may be as few as fourteen patterns in the box or maybe several dozen.  Care is taken in placing patterns in the crates, often wrapping them in foam, to protect them from the damaging effects of pressing up against other patterns.

Some patterns are relatively simple in that they are only made up of one piece.  An example of this type of pattern would be a pattern on a board that makes a decorative kickplate for a door.  Other patterns are very complicated and are made up of several pieces.  The additional pieces could be coreboxes (used to make the part hollow), follow boards, molds and other loose pieces.  The photo of the finial pattern within this article is an example of a pattern with multiple pieces.  It is important for HACI to keep all of the parts of a pattern together in its storage facility.  The crate method of storage for patterns allows the flexibility necessary to accommodate the variations possible when storing patterns.

Computerized Storage

Print out from HACI's pattern storage database.

As new patterns are made by our pattern shop, and before they are used by our foundry, they are cataloged and photographed for entry into the database.  Information about several attributes of each pattern are recorded in the database.  Items such as size, type of pattern, number of pieces, core boxes, part number, part name, original job and so forth are taken down and become search terms that can be used in the future to find each pattern again when the need arises.  The database is available to the person that is in charge of the physical storage of the patterns as well as to HACI’s project managers and designers.

In addition to its many reporting capabilities, the database allows the user to query the lists of patterns for results of a certain type.  For example, if one of our designers needed to design a new light fixture, and they needed a finial for the top of the fixture, they could query our pattern database to find all finials of a certain size to determine if we already have a pattern that would work for the new fixture.  Utilizing existing patterns in this way HACI can leverage its extensive library of patterns to create new products for its customers at a cost that is less than developing the entire product from scratch.  So the next time HACI is developing a product for your project, perhaps some of the development costs can be saved by making use of some of the patterns currently kept in our pattern storage facility.

Partial view of HACI's pattern storage facility.