Algebra Class

[Bicycle Bill]

-"BB"-

[wesw]

yeah..., ok....

every carpenter and fabricator and builder of any kind needs at least algebra and geometry to advance and succeed in their field of endeavor.

[Big RR]

Depending on what's being built, I can see some trigonometry, maybe even geometry, but what sort of algebra concepts would be used?

[Bicycle Bill]

yeah..., ok....

every carpenter and fabricator and builder of any kind needs at least algebra and geometry to advance and succeed in their field of endeavor.

Or he hires one of the smart kids to do it for him.

Quick, wes; you're going to put a chain-link fence around a piece of land that is 1/4 mile square.  Specifications call for you to put in a post every eight feet.  How many upright posts will you need; how much concrete (in cubic yards) will you need to anchor those posts assuming you use a standard post-hole digger and go down 2½ feet; how many lineal feet of top rail will you require; and how much fence fabric?
........For extra credit, the top rails come in 12-foot sections.  How many total rails will you need?

And a suggestion, wes ... let your teenage daughter figure it out.  It would be interesting to see what sort of things she has learned from despite your teachings.

[wesw]

yer an idiot , bill.

i have fabricated some of the most beautiful steel structures on the east coast.

we did the hard stuff the other fabricators couldn t handle.

Crystal Steel Fab...

...take a gander, if you are interested.

personally i thought that most of them were a horrible waste of taxpayer money, but i just built the stuff......

[wesw]

RR, it is hard to do geometry without algebraic knowledge, no?

...and yes, I should have taken trig, a better grasp of parabolic graphing would have been helpful to me, I wouldn t have had to wait for the office as much...

...but who knew? I usually slept or read my English lit or history books in math class. or did homework..., I never did homework after school...

you can only get away with that for so long in maths. you actually have to study and do homework when you get to a certain level , no matter if you are smart or not.

[liberty]

It has been decades since I have built a house, but I don’t think one needs Pythagoras's theorem roof it.

One half of the width of the building gives you the number steps and the pitch such as four and twelve gives you the settings on the framing square. Just step off and mark a rafter using the correct settings and number of steps. Don’t forget to subtract one half of the width of the ridge beam or the rafter will be too long. Carpenters make a master rafter and ensure it is correct by fitting it in place before using it to marking the other rafters.

Of course steel prefabrication is a totally different animal, I don‘t know a lot about it except, it is like building a giant puzzle that has to be nearly perfect. And small mistake can cost a lot of money.

[wesw]

it s still A squared plus B squared equals C squared , liberty, all that changes are the details

your last sentence is accurate too

[BoSoxGal]

Sorry but I'm not believing for one second that you had anything to do with engineering anything that stands more than one story high, wesw.

Did you grunt and haul to build it? Maybe I'd buy that claim.

[wesw]

I never claimed to be the engineer or an engineer on any job.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I've watched a few master carpenters and they did things with a roofing square that made me envious. All the ratios and such are on it and they would have two "set screw" thingies that they would tighten and then line up, mark, cut, flip over on the other end and mark, cut. Got the pitch they wanted, the correct angle on both ends (or a notch on the bottom end if there is an overhang) and the length. No need to make one rafter then copy. I was amazed at how easy they made it look.
Similar method for cutting staircases.

[Bicycle Bill]

That's why they are called "master carpenters" instead of just "guys who own a hammer" like my former brother-in-law.
I will admit, he was better than I thought he was, but he was nowhere near as good as *HE* thought he was.

-"BB"-

[dales]

My son-in-law owns his own stone and tile business.

He is always using geometry and algebra on the job (pretty good for a HS drop out).

He makes a lot of money and is able to support my daughter (a stay at home mom) and his three children just on what he hauls in. They live in an upscale community in the SF Bay Area.

He pays a sh-tload of taxes both fed and CA.

The amount of paperwork bullsh-t is overwhelming, but that's another story.

[RayThom]

Here's my master carpenter hero. Give him a hammer, saw, and 16" x 24" carpenter's square and he'll build a three story house in four weeks. I'm mesmerized every time he's showing off. I've never seen him use algebra, however.

[Sean]

Once upon a time I taught Key Skills in Mathematics to drama students. One day a particularly bright spark gave me the old "When am I ever going to use this crap?" line. I answered with, "Well, I use it every day in my job". His muttered response, "Bet you don't!"

I thought, "I'll wait, it'll dawn on him..."

It didn't.

[Gob]

[dales]

Sean is always good for a light-heated chuckle.

I wished he posted here more.

(yes, I know I'm a sick man)

[Sean]

Thank you Dales old mate, you're too kind (for a sick man).

[liberty]

Sorry but I'm not believing for one second that you had anything to do with engineering anything that stands more than one story high, wesw.

Did you grunt and haul to build it? Maybe I'd buy that claim.

I don’t know what is going on so I am not taking sides except to support the truth. And the truth is that steel fabrication, or more precisely prefabrication in that a structure is constructed in pieces and put together later, is not engineering, but it is a skilled and well paid job. I can see why Wes might be bitter about losing such a position.

http://www.steelfab.com/

Metal fabrication is the building of metal structures by cutting, bending, and assembling processes. It is a value added process that involves the construction of machines and structures from various raw materials. A fab shop will bid on a job, usually based on the engineering drawings, and if awarded the contract will build the product. Large fab shops will employ a multitude of value added processes in one plant or facility including welding, cutting, forming and machining. These large fab shops offer additional value to their customers by limiting the need for purchasing personnel to locate multiple vendors for different services. Metal fabrication jobs usually start with shop drawings including precise measurements then move to the fabrication stage and finally to the installation of the final project. Fabrication shops are employed by contractors, OEMs and VARs. Typical projects include loose parts, structural frames for buildings and heavy equipment, and stairs and hand railings for buildings.

[Bicycle Bill]

-"BB"-