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Thread: A Trip to the Sawmill, or...

  1. #1
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    A Trip to the Sawmill, or...

    ADVENTURES WITH ASPIRING ARCHITECTS

    It was an adventure! It was a little depressing as well though. I had to go to the sawmill to buy some oak for a small job I am doing. As I pulled into the parking space by the front of the wood barn, two young ladies dressed in the uniform of the young came scampering out of the door of the wood barn. They were wearing tight tight (sic) jeans and revealing tank tops with boobs and bellies hanging out, and sandals – hardly what one would expect for proper, or even just safe attire at a sawmill. Driving past the big roll up door, I saw that the barn was crammed with girls dressed much in the same way, with one or two boys in the mix for variety. My first thought was, these don’t look like regular customers.

    Well, they weren’t. As I strode into the barn, an older girl (although still not as old as I) popped out of the group and exclaimed, “Well there you are at last!”

    “Who, me?” I replied.

    “Yes, you. We need some help here.”

    “But I don’t work here.”

    “Well you’re wearing one of their shirts!” she exclaimed. I realized immediately how she had come to her assumption as I stared down at my own chest, which was proudly displaying the name and logo of the sawmill. I told her it had been given to me and I wore it in gratitude. I then went on to say that someone should be along presently, but in the meantime I would help them out if I could. She informed me that they were from one of the local universities, and the kids were in Furniture 101 class. I asked if they were all woodworking majors. “Oh no”, she replied, “these are all architectural majors. They need to take this class as part of their degree program.”

    The immediate problem at hand was one of the girls whining (yes, whining) that she did not know how much a board was going to cost her. She had a price sheet, but there was no information to be had on the board itself. I asked the group in general if anyone had a tape measure with them. You can imagine the answer. I retrieved my tape from the truck, and told them that they needed to figure out the board feet of a board to determine the cost. I was rewarded with a set of blank looks. By this time I had about eight young ladies and one professor clustered about, waiting for me to reveal the mystery of the board foot. I asked the group if anyone knew what a board foot was. The professor lady piped up immediately to tell me that this was beginning furniture, and they did not go into complicated stuff like that in this course.

    I looked her dead in the eye and said, “Well if you are going to begin building furniture, it is a good idea to know how much wood to buy, don’t you think?” She just looked sheepish and hung her head a bit. I turned to the group and told them that I was going to show them the secret method for determining board footage. Taking the board in question from the one young lady, I measured it across its width – 4 ½” . I said, “This board is 4 ½” wide. For the purposes of determining cost, we will call it 5”, which is what the sawmill people will do. I then measured its length, which turned out to be 10’. I asked, “How many inches are in ten feet? They got that one pretty quickly, 120 inches. Things went rapidly downhill after that.

    I asked the group in general, “What is 120 times 5?” There was dead silence for a space of about 15 to 20 seconds, while they all looked at me like I had three heads. I felt like I was talking to fourth graders. Finally one young lady in the rear said in a soft and quavering voice, “Six hundred?” “Very good!” I replied, while my heart sank. I knew the next question was going to be even tougher. I said, “Now we need to divide 600 by 144. What is 600 divided by 144?” No one spoke. Finally a girl volunteered that she had found a calculator over on the desk. I said, “600 divided by 144 is approximately four, but you might want to check me with the calculator.” I turned to the girl with the calculator and said, “Divide 600 by 144 and tell me what you get.”

    As she started to push buttons, I said to her, “Why are you dividing by 144?” in my best classroom voice. She froze, and looked at me with that ‘deer in the headlights look’. I could just tell by her expression that she was hoping the floor would open up to swallow at least one of us. Finally I said, “You are dividing by 144 because I told you to, right?”

    “Yes!” She exclaimed with obvious relief.

    “NO!” I exclaimed right back. “You are dividing by 144 because that is how many square inches are in one board foot! One board foot equals 12” x 12” x 1” thick. That is why you are dividing by 144!”

    By this time the whiny girl had been able to do these complex mathematical operations in her head, and she whined that the board was going to cost her $20.00. She had taken a bit of initiative and multiplied the board footage by the price per board foot on the sheet she had. “Very good!” I exclaimed. Meanwhile my heart sank even further, thinking that this must be one of the reasons why woodworkers and carpenters curse architects on a regular basis. Basic math was beyond these kids. You would have thought I was asking them to solve a polynomial or calculate a logarithm in their heads instead of doing simple multiplication and division.

    After our short lesson they all scattered to find boards suitable for their task at hand, which according to the professor was hand cut dovetails and turned mallets. I would love to be there to see that. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t. I got my oak, traded some stories with the folks at the sawmill, and returned to my shop, contemplating the sad state of education these days. These kids are attending a very prestigious university near me which is noted for its engineering school. I wonder if the architects are as highly regarded.

    Bill

  2. #2
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    Well...look on it from the bright side...they at least didn't look like the rest of us woodworkers. (Many of us, at least...)

    Seriously, your observations are consistant with what I've seen all too often. I'm not really gifted for mental math, but at least the concept doesn't escape me...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
    Bill, that is a funny story, but all too true and sad these days. As many of you know, I work at a College, and I see this stuff everyday. It is simply amazing.............no, astonishing.....that some public school systems turn out High School GRADUATES with little or no knowledge of the most basic of the "3 R's". I have seen MULTIPLICATION TABLES written on the chalkboard in more than one classroom..........and this the COLLEGE level folks! I realize that teachers are the most under paid element of our society, but what ever happened to parents as teachers? There are many problems that exist in society today that are not conducive to learning, and it seems to be socially acceptable in some circles? I just don't get it? Oh well, enough of that rant..............this is one of my peeves, in case ya didn't notice. ( I DO know one thing..........that would have NEVER flown in my folks home, and it didn't fly in MY house either!)

  4. #4
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    What really scares me is that their generation will be running this country when I retire. Frightening!!!
    Waymon...
    ...My heroes are not athletes, entertainers or politicians;
    ALL my heroes wear US Armed Forces uniforms...

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Gerstenecker
    ( I DO know one thing..........that would have NEVER flown in my folks home, and it didn't fly in MY house either!)
    Now Kev....don't you know that it's not nice to fly in ones house? LOL!!!!
    Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
    Dennis -
    Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
    ....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.

  6. #6
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    Bill,

    That's simply too funny!!!!! Even my 10 year old son knows how to calculate a board foot.!!!! Simply disheartening with college kids these days.
    Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
    Dennis -
    Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
    ....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.

  7. #7

    All is not lost Bill

    Look on the bright side, maybe you could become Adjunct Professor of Woodworking at that fine institution of sometime learning. On the other hand maybe I ought to retract that, it's not politically corrct these days to scare the students into learning.

    A friend of mine taught for math for years at my old alma mater and complained constantly that his department was used as a service bureau and remedial calculus school for the engineering departments who admitted unprepared students. I suspect this argument has been going on for as long as humans have walked upright. Somehow we always manage to pull through it and education eventually happens.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis Peacock
    Even my 10 year old son knows how to calculate a board foot.!!!! Simply disheartening with college kids these days.
    In fairness, I never heard of a "board foot" untill a few years ago when I started woodworking. That said, I'm more concerned about the basic math skills that are lacking in this caclulator-oriented society. (And I'm personally guilty of the same as it were these days) When I ran a Radio Shack store back in the 1980s, mental math was a necessary thing since all transactions were written up manually and totalled manually. My aging brain is out of practice with that these days, but at least I understand the concepts and can think through a problem. Many of the kids in Bill's story seemed to lack that ability to conceptualized the problem...at least "whiney" was sharp in that respect with a little prodding!

  9. #9
    Sadly far too many youngsters today have no concept of what numbers actually mean and can not begin to manipulate them without a calculator. Pi are round not square.
    Big Mike

    I have done so much with so little for so long I am now qualified to do anything with nothing......

    P.S. If you are interested in plans for any project that I post, just put some money in an envelope and mail it to me and I will keep it.

  10. #10
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    I have encountered the same thing in reading. When I was in the Navy we would get new sailors in the fleet that had passed tech school because they had programmed text with the answer on the next page. So we would have to have basic electronics class with them and almost one on one tutor them until they understood the basic stuff they needed to do their jobs. That was 20 years ago I tend not to believe it has improved.

    Good for you Bill taking the time to at least introduce them to the subject, The professor obviously had not.

    such is the way it is.

    Roger

  11. #11
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    I think you're reading too much into this. These are smart kids to get into an Architecture program in the first place. Their math skills are probably pretty good. In school, you get very little practice at the skill of estimation. Every equation you solve has to have an exact answer. "Around 4" gets you an F, "4.166667" , or "4 1/6" is correct.
    I had a roommate that is a very smart guy. We were both just out of college and were making pretty good money. So, we went out to eat most nights as our cooking skills were minimal (mine haven't improved much). His girlfirend had given him a tip card that he used to figure out tips. Huh, I thought, this guy can't figure out a tip. We talked about it a little. When I was young, my parents took us out to eat each Friday. They would hand either me or my sister the bill and ask us what the tip should be. So, we both had the skill to determine a tip quickly. He did not, and had apparently just been guessing. His girlfriend (an ex-waitress) determined he was guessing too low and gave him the card. Once I told him the quick estimation formula he said, well why didn't she just tell me that, and tossed the card. He had just assumed everyone carried around a tip card.
    There are lots of experiences kids don't get when living with their parents. Once they are thrown into the real world, they will quickly learn to estimate and get "close enough" numbers.
    Frankly, my first time at a real lumber place wasn't pretty either. I was a little hung up on the borgs linear feet pricing. The second time went much smoother. There are a few other things to learn. For example, on my first trip, I assumed that the board ft calculation was surface area and disregarded thickness. I figured the higher price associated with buying thicker lumber was to account for the thickness differential.
    I wouldn't count out these kids. They are just products of their upbringing. They are probably real smart, just not set in their real world/no mommy and daddy around skills yet.
    If I had been in that class, I don't think I would've learned those formulas from you either. Those bare mid sections would've occupied 100% of my brain.

    Jay
    Jay St. Peter

  12. #12
    I little story this reminds me of: Years back, I was managing the Landscape Department at a large, local Nursery/Greenhouse. We had advertised for Landscape Labor for the summer months. We were located near a large University, and we would get a lot of college students applying for summer jobs. A question on the application asked, "Can you lift weight up to 100 lbs?"
    I had a Graduate Student apply, and he was slight of build, so to answer that question on the application he simply wrote......"If I haffto". I questioned him about the word "Haffto" during the interview and he laughed in my face when he said I was so stupid I didn't know how to spell "Haffto." I simply wrote the following on a paper and slid it across the table......"If I HAVE TO." He looked for a minute, then promptly rose and left the room..............never to be heard from again! I'm thinkin' he is probably a politician today!

  13. #13
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    That was a good story. It's nice that you jumped in like that to teach them how to calculate a board foot. But, like Jim, I think we need to give those girls a bit of a break. Before I started WW'ing, I had no idea what a board foot was - I didn't know such a term existed. I even took a ww'ing class in high school, but we were never taught BF. My parents are not ww'ers so they have no reason to know. My first experiences buying wood for my ww'ing hobby was home depot - where every board IS priced. Not knowing why the number 144 was important is understandable considering that they did not know what a BF was. If anybody is to blame, it would be that teacher. Anybody teaching a furniture building class should teach what a board foot is.

    As far as doing math in the head - I am not too good at that either.

    Stefan
    Last edited by Stefan Antwarg; 09-04-2004 at 10:31 AM.

  14. #14

    I stand corrected!!!!!

    The LOML informs me once again that I should not be commenting on things in which I have no expertise. To say that I am limited is an understatement. Anyhow she is a professor of mathematics with more than 30 years experience and she informs me that the correct mathematic principle that I was trying to relate was "Pi are round and cornbread are square". I'll be going back out to the doghouse, er shop now.
    Big Mike

    I have done so much with so little for so long I am now qualified to do anything with nothing......

    P.S. If you are interested in plans for any project that I post, just put some money in an envelope and mail it to me and I will keep it.

  15. #15
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    I guess I've been figuring BF for so long that I got tired of doing it and punched the formula into my TI-85. Now if I could get these fat fingers of mine to punch the correct itsy bitsy buttons on that darned thing, I might start to get the right answers again. My grandfather was a journeyman carpenter, so I grew up thinking that everybody knew something about most of the aspects of woodworking. I still catch myself thinking that sometimes. It ain't so. All I gotta do is look at LOML...not a clue there. oops....I'm off to my doghouse too.

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