Has anyone out there ever taken the Journeyman’s carpentry exam? I’m in the interview process for a non-union job that requires taking a test based on this exam. I’ve got 18+ yrs. exp. so I’m not too worried, but I’m trying to get a leg up on a lot of competition, so any tips on content would be greatly apprec. I’ve managed to track down info on one study guide, but no one has it. (Amazon says 3-5 weeks. Test is next week)Anyone? Anyone?
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Paddy: I took it several years ago to go from a non-union finish carpenter jpb to a union job. I was actually disappointed with how easy the test was. 70% is passing..and the questions were designed to get my $300 fee.
Stan, thanks for the peace of mind. From what you recall, is it more like finding the volumes of cylinders for concrete, or more like asking you which end of the nail to hit?
I took it [Colorado version] after I had been in construction for about fourteen years, mostly as a roofer. I passed with flying colours and was disappointed at how easy it was. If I remember rightly it had a couple of semi-trick questions about stair stringer layout and cutting, some on things like when are you required to use PT lumber and mostly fluff questions like what is the actuall size of a 2x4. [hint - eight feet long is not a great choice nor is 2" by 4" but 1.5" x 3.5" might just get you by] and what is a whaler? A couple of OSHA type ones too. I don't remember any engineering type Qs
Excellence is its own reward!
and what is a whaler?
Scared to ask, but what exactly is a whaler?View ImageGo Jayhawks
An Eskimo who hunts whales.....DUH!
Horzontal alignment brace/plate at top of concrete forms.
Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks piff....is that a regional term? I use them all the time, never realized they had a name.J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Don't believe it to be regional.
I've always heard it but I think the first time I heard it used was from a union carpenter and he was talking to a non-union guy who knew exactly what was meant by the term. I was the newbie who had to ask, "What's a whaler?"
Donm't know the derivation buty assume maybe because in beating a pushing forms into place, this 2by takes a whale of a lot of pounding. To get a wall straight, sometimes you have to really whale on it with a big hamber!
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
I know whaler is in Carp by Koels...the old trade school book sitting on the shelf.
Don't think it's regional. JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
And I always thought it was a waler. Don't think I've even seen it in print before.It doesn't matter how fast you get there, it just matters that you go in the right direction.
I don't remember what the spelling in print might be but when I search google...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=concrete+%2B+forms+%2B+whaler&btnG=Google+Search.
Excellence is its own reward!
I don't know but I searched Google for whaler + concrete + forms and gotr lots of hits.
Excellence is its own reward!
I've been Prosperoed!
I kept hitting the post button for that previous link and it kept coming back to say that there was a problem that i needed to revise....
But I see it posted nayways..
Excellence is its own reward!
I've always been accused of being "a little off". Experience seems to indicate that my friends are correct. It doesn't matter how fast you get there, it just matters that you go in the right direction.
We just might have the same friends.
Excellence is its own reward!
LOL You mean your friends think I'm a little off, too? {G}It doesn't matter how fast you get there, it just matters that you go in the right direction.
And I thought it was "wailer" as in Bob Marley...
I think you're the one who got it right. I read that "Concrete Jungle" was the first song the Wailers ever played in the States, but dont' get me started. I've been listening to Catch a Fire for more than 25 years and now my kids play it!It doesn't matter how fast you get there, it just matters that you go in the right direction.
Concrete...I get it! hehehe...
Enjoy your weekend!
Jen
Hey, Piffin, thanks for the info. I've heard from several sources that it really is an easy test,but I'm just trying to C.M.A.... I believe in the belts and braces approach. Thanks again!
It is waler. I'm pretty sure it is anyway. It comes from old, like 16th or 17 th century wooden shipbuilding practices where certain horizontal reinforcing timbers were called wales - think gunwale.
Ron
A whaler is what duh suhthern fokes call someone who drills wells.
Whale I'll be jiggered!
you can google for forms and either spelling and find it used both ways. You explanation of the origins sounded sensible though. A gunwale does approximately the same thing in resising forces
now, since gunwale [or gunn'll as we pronounce it] implies that you lay your gun across it, there must be other wales in history prior to the boating thing..
Excellence is its own reward!