Ontario's College of Trades

Legislation has just been passed in the Province of Ontario that sets up a new body to govern and promote skilled trades. This new organisation parallels existing self governing bodies for lawyers, doctors and teachers, and is supposed to better trades conditions and regulate apprenticeship ratios and who may be certified to work in both restricted and non-restricted trades.

As a tradesman who promotes skilled trades, I find this announcement both surprising and interesting, but I also feel that there are many unanswered questions. I don't see a need for more McGinty interference in small business. Since he's been Premier, WSIB has begun a scramble to fill their empty coffers, and Department of Labour over-enforcement, in my view, is already causing enough havoc.

Certainly, the trades are overdue for an increase in status, but my personal research into the realities of such efforts, usually for professionalisation, find that one of the main results is increasing fees to fund an oversized, over staffed head office; and I'm not alone in that concern. Such efforts never result in a pure gain, but rather a tradeoff whereby professional status is gained at a cost of independence. Also, a point that has been raised elsewhere, is that there must be an appropriate balance between union and non-union agendas. Just because non-union trades aren't organised as a group does not mean that their perspective and needs are any less valid.

I'm not anti-union; but I am concerned that it will be difficult for non-union voices to be heard over the well organized and funded union lobby who have already had time to prepare their case.

It does seem to be the intent that jouneymen, apprentices, and employers will have the lion's share of voice in trades affairs, and if that is actually the case, I see benefit. More to come on this issue, and hopefully from a positive angle. I'm all for promoting the trades!

Here's a link from a fellow blogger that comments, and includes leads to the government postings. Very timely reading.

http://post-secondary.blogspot.com/2009/10/ontario-passes-legislation-creating.html

History: Craft Knowledge First in Print

I've just been given the link to a very interesting site, and i'd like to pass it on. (Thanks Kari)

[url]http://www.toolemera.com/[/url]

This site, dedicated to old books and literature, features reprints of a very old book by Joseph Moxon on trades methods. It is considered by the site host to be the first printed book on trades skills, something we now take for granted. In 1703 there would be no benches in home Depot where one might have trade knowledge passed on for free. and that would be for a very good reason. Prior to the Great Fire of London, 1666, which wiped out a great deal of the city of London, skilled trades and their knowledge were strictly controlled by individual guilds, now known as unions.

For centuries before, all through Europe novices would be sworn to secrecy, because what a tradesman knows is his livelihood, how he makes his living. An early mason would make his own tools (read "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett) but his knowledge was his bread and butter. I believe that this was also true many centuries before, because the use of craft terms in the Bible alluded to "craftiness, sleight of hand, hidden knowledge" suggesting that one's knowledge wasn't shared with others.

In this way, guilds kept tight control, and if a job needed to be done or a building constructed, the guild supplied the master builders, labourers, carpenters and masons to get the job done and contend for fair wages for the tradespeople.

The great fire of London, however, changed that forever, as there were not enough trained workers available, and once the doors were opened, they were not shut again, as the newly trained cohorts went back into the countryside after the rebuilding had been done. Joseph Moxon was a very interesting character; as the free portion of the reprint of his book tells, a prolific author and the first tradesman allowed into the Royal Scientific Society". I hope I've piqued your interest! It's good to remember what life was like. Dave

Interesting Thread on RC Forum

The pictures below were posted on RC Forum under "General discussion, Main Forum".

I asked for lessons learned from older construction, and the "Loneframer", a widely respected master framer from the NYC area, submitted them and contributed to a discussion on some rather unique framing methods. The framing method was almost like an early version of a roof truss. Here's some of the discussion.

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"One thing that surprised me recently was some trusses that were in a 103 year old building that I'm doing some work in".

Q. Any idea why bracing only in one direction, and how recently (threaded rod) might have been added. I often catch myself being surprised by engineering at that time, which is ridiculous, when engineering principles are centuries and millennia old.

A. "Unless the building was damaged by fire, it's original as far as I can tell. The entire job is fastened together with cut nails and there is no evidence that would lead me to believe the trusses are not original. The rods are actually square headed bolts that appear to be about 1" in diameter".

Q. Those pics open a lot of questions. How much snow load, any? Fairly low pitch, no sign of rotting for that age. Will structure stay exposed? Wonder if uniformity today excludes some of the unique solutions you see there. Are the cross pieces morticed into the top chords of the trusses?

Be interesting to have an engineer comment on the direction of bracing.. now there's a thought I never expected to have. Wonder if an architectural historian would be able to trace the design back to a technical school in NY.

A. "These trusses freespan 40' and when sighted from end to end, they have a slight crown up on the bottom chord. The top chord is jointed into the bottom chord at the plateline. The fit of all the joints is remarkable.

As for snow load, In the 70s we had over two feet of snow in one storm. I realize that may not be much by some standards, but for here it is a huge amount of snow".

Here's the links to the pictures;

http://www.remodelcrazy.com/forum/showthread.php?t=322