Todays Carpenters are Not What They Used to Be

[Mule]

I went out on an inspection this AM. Framing inspection on a garage.

All of trim was rough cedar. They boxed around the posts, headers, facia and so on.

They used a nail gun to nail all of the trim. Nothing i could really do except comment that if I were to be doing this job, I would not have used a nail gun to nail on all the trim. The nails were countersunk enough to create a void in the wood...3/16 to 1/4".

The wood butcher said well how would you have done it?

Me..I would have used galvanized nails and drove them in by hand, flushing the nails with the board.

Wood butcher said, well most people don't like the imprint left by my framing hammer.

Me..Ever heard of a smooth face hammer or make that last hit a little lighter so as not to leave a track?

Wood butcher..Yes, I do finish trim all of the time.

Me.. i just don't like the way gun nails make the job look! I framed back when there wasn't such a thing as a nail gun..especially cornice guns.

Is there no pride in anybody's work any more? This guy was doing a really neat looking job except for the way he was nailing up the cedar! It's a sad sad world out there now!! No true carpentars left! Or should I say not any that I know of!

I'm sad..........

 

[fatboy]

There's a few.......but not many. I'd like to hand some of these clowns a framing square and have them lay out, cut and build a full set of stairs.

 

[Builder Bob]

today's carpenters

Most of ours speak spanish and very little english

 

[RJJ]

Hey! That's why us old wood beaters are now inspecters. And once upon a time they used Yankees and hand saws! Sharpen them at lunch with a little extra set. Now we have screw guns, nail guns, sawsalls and Simpson hangers. Not to forget pre-hung doors and vertical mulch for plywood. If I missed something please add. Oh ya Plastic trim!

 

[mtlogcabin]

During the Mariel Boat Lift days in Miami they would process the refugees through the Krom Ave detention center. They asked the men what they did for work back in Cuba and if they replied carpenter they would be give them a hammer, nail bag and tape measure and sent them out to a jobsite. These guys new absolutly nothing about framing. Finally after a couple of days of frustration the superintendent found someone who could translate for him. As he was chewing them out for being lousy carpenters when they started correcting him saying no no we are not carpenters we are car painters.

RJJ you missed chain saw

 

[conarb]

When you go back to my days there were not only no nail guns there were no galvanized nails. We nailed the siding and trim by hand, then we set the nails about 1/8" deep, the painter then primed and then puttied the nail holes. When galvanized nails first came out we were told not to set them, if we did we would pop off the galvanized coating, just to leave them flush. We thought that terrible to have a nail head visible, on one custom million dollar home the architect made us chalk line the studs so the heads would be straight, then he made us measure the nails so everything would look evenly spaced, I remember asking him if on the next job we could go back to common nails and set them, it took to much time to line up and measure the galvanized nails with the exposed heads. Nails also came in wooden kegs, all kegs weighed 100 pounds, so the bigger the nail the bigger the keg because small nails compacted down more, as I recall a keg of 4d finish nails was about half as high as a keg of 20d commons

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[RJJ]

MT: I am sure I missed a few! Car painters!LOL

 

[FyrBldgGuy]

Some of those old nail boxes also indicated the nails were sterile. That was so the carpenter could stick a handful in his mouth. I knew a few that could spit the nail into the wood and hit with a hammer. Didn't matter if they could speak english, many were Italians or other Europeans. They didn't drive Toy Rollover Cars they drove real trucks.

 

[FredK]

One of these days I got to buy a nail gun.

 

[Alias]

Went out to a jobsite yesterday, single family, basic home. The guys (kids) building it aren't doing too bad a job, considering Dad isn't there to oversee and they're all from back east. Dad is on a mission, and I don't mean military.

I dinged them for not setting the nailgun so that the nails wouldn't be sunk 1/4" into the bracewall panel. Supposed to be flush guys...........

Sue, living on the frontier

 

[FM William Burns]

no no we are not carpenters we are car painters.

Amongst many other questionable trades and many had to dodge bottles being thrown off I-95 by passing cars once the public learned what actually happened with their citizenship initiative.