I dont do fractions

[Hemmjo]

OK, Just asking. In a former life I used to work for a carpenter, then after that as a draftsman for a home building company. In those days, a pre-cut stud was always 92 5/8". Just wondering if that had changed. If it has, no big deal. I was just curious. Or if you just threw out a random number, that's fine too.

1 1/2” sole plate + 92 5/8 stud + 1 1/2” top plate + 1 1/2” double top plate = 97 1/8” rough wall height.

97 1/8” - 1/2” drywall - 5/8” finish floor = 96” (8’) ceiling.

Still that way unless someone wants high ceilings.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Well I can see some of this and even lived some of it. Like I could read a mic in any class but I had a terrible time with the numeration of the dewey decimal system to put the books in order by number and in order both use decimals and should have connected. Sure didn't see it in library class but could in any other class be it math or shop or at home. Another was algebra class. I never till much later under stood that the algebra formulas were not about the numbers but about the formula and it's application. I sure wish at times I could have caught on to that sooner than 20 years after high school. Yet I do fractions if I have to.I also convert them to decimals where it is faster to work with them than fractions.

 

[NDIHC]

Sounds to me like the kid could have been shown how to read the sizes on the wrenches. He would have learned something and would have become a more valuable employee.

 

[SleepyFarmall]

Correct, even if you don't understand what 9/16" means, its the one that has 9/16 stamped on it. Problem solved just read. Michael.

 

[Steven Allen]

There is always a reason why things change. To many a too quick to complain about a change with no under standing of the reason.

2×4 Lumber Sizes – The History Behind The Mystery | The Working Forest

workingforest.com

The existence of a reason does not validate the reason.

 

[rrlund]

The superiority complex of some of you people is off the charts. "I only feel good about myself if I jump on the bandwagon and put somebody else down". "Everybody's stupid but me".

 

[Steven Allen]

That "I see no use for it in the real world" attitude is the problem. There may be no use for it, but there IS use for the thinking skills that you developed in the process of learning this "useless" stuff.

Where am I going to use blah blah blah math? Maybe you will, maybe you won't, but you also learn how to keep track of multiple things, which is an incredibly useful skill that is very much applicable in real life. That's just one example.

Your mind would not be capable of comprehending or remembering the things you do need to know in real life if you had not "wasted" all that time in school learning "useless" things. Unfortunately you can't just impart the "real life stuff" directly. You have to build up to it.

Think about it. They're not teaching that "useless" stuff in school anymore, and the main complaint is kids can't think for themselves... Hmm? Hmm? Think maybe there's a correlation?

I spent 37 years in the college classroom dealing with the output of our nation's high schools. There was a broad range of capability, but all too many suffered from lack of preparation.

Our education system is broken, and it needs to be completely rebuilt from the ground up, but there is no such thing as a useless skill or useless knowledge. Learning HOW to learn--by acquiring whatever skill or knowledge--not only has value but has the highest value.

 

[Hemmjo]

The existence of a reason does not validate the reason.

Perhaps, but the reason allows someone to decide for themselves if that reason is valid. IF there is no reason given for the change, the the reason may simply be arbitrary. In the case of lumber, the reasons are valid. Perhaps one might argue that the "names" of lumber should have been changed, but that is a whole other discussion.

 

[rrlund]

I spent 37 years in the college classroom dealing with the output of our nation's high schools. There was a broad range of capability, but all too many suffered from lack of preparation.

Our education system is broken, and it needs to be completely rebuilt from the ground up, but there is no such thing as a useless skill or useless knowledge. Learning HOW to learn--by acquiring whatever skill or knowledge--not only has value but has the highest value.

How does that change the fact that there have been 87 replies to this post, most acting all superior? Go ahead and post anything pertaining to "kids these days" and you'll get just as many replies. We were all young once. When we were, it was the old folks who didn't have a clue wasn't it? Of course the older generation said it was ours that would destroy the world. Bunch of long haired, tie died, dope smoking, maggot infested hippies.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

How does that change the fact that there have been 87 replies to this post, most acting all superior? Go ahead and post anything pertaining to "kids these days" and you'll get just as many replies. We were all young once. When we were, it was the old folks who didn't have a clue wasn't it? Of course the older generation said it was ours that would destroy the world. Bunch of long haired, tie died, dope smoking, maggot infested hippies.

Don't'cha know? They all came out of their mother's womb knowing everything!

 

[miangus]

When we started to learn fractions and common denominators in grade school, I was pretty excited. I helped my uncle work on the semis used in the logging business under a shade tree in grandmothers' backyard. I would hand him tools while he stayed up in the engine bay of the 59 International. He would ask for the next size larger than a 11/16 and I would struggle to figure out what he needed. This tried his patience. I told my friends at school how learning fractions and common denominators was going to have a positive impact on my life; they assumed I had lost my mind.

 

[Destroked 450]

I used to do the hiring at Sawmill Manufacturing plant. When interviewing younger people or even interviewing co-op students one of my first questions was do you know how to read a tape meausure? Most maybe 75-80 percent could read an imperial tape, rest could either read metric only or not at all. I only remember hiring one young lad that couldnt read a tape. He was honest and told me no he couldnt, but he would sure like to learn how. Less than 5 minutes of explanation and he had no problem.
Surprisingly there was a larger percentage of older people that couldnt correctly answer basic questions about there own trade.

What brand sawmill did your company build, I’ve helped build a few sawmills for a friend and have installed a few different brands of sawmill equipment

 

[will-max dairy]

Could show the kid that wrenches have a 9 over 16 printed on them... laugh about the fact that it's old school... then ask him how to tap into GIS data to figure your planting rates without scratching figures in the dirt using sticks...

 

[will-max dairy]

There was a time when farm kids were at the forefront of technology... and now we want our farms to be museums to the glory of our teenage years...and the kids just curators...

 

[GChief]

Don't'cha know? They all came out of their mother's womb knowing everything!

Same as it ever was...

 

[Destroked 450]

And if I get one more kid who doesn't know how to use an abacus I swear I'm gonna punch someone...

Seriously though- I can't wait until one of you guys freaks out over your first kid who doesn't know the difference between clockwise and counter clockwise, because it's here and it's real.

Guess I’m getting punched
I had to google it to see what it was and have no idea how to use it

 

[scootergmc]

Guess I’m getting punched
I had to google it to see what it was and have no idea how to use it

Ha ha. Just goes to show you we know what we know. I wish there were more clouds here in California.

 

[rrlund]

There was a time when farm kids were at the forefront of technology... and now we want our farms to be museums to the glory of our teenage years...and the kids just curators...

You've got that exactly right. We had a neighbor who was still walking behind a team of horses in the early 60s. In the mid 50s, his son had the Allis Chalmers dealer bring out a new tractor. The old man was furious and said he was calling them and telling them to come and get it! The son told him, if that tractor goes, I'm going. He gave in and let the tractor stay, but he never drove it. I can still remember seeing him pulling things with the horses and forecart. Now a whole bunch of us have turned in to that stubborn backwards thinking old man.

I was just thinking this morning about Dad's oldest brother. He was always out in front of everything, the first one to own anything new and he made a good bit of money with that attitude. If he was around today, he wouldn't be fighting a losing battle over windmills, he'd own the excavators digging the holes for the concrete.

 

[Destroked 450]

1 1/2” sole plate + 92 5/8 stud + 1 1/2” top plate + 1 1/2” double top plate = 97 1/8” rough wall height.

97 1/8” - 1/2” drywall - 5/8” finish floor = 96” (8’) ceiling.

Still that way unless someone wants high ceilings.

Grew up on a farm, after graduating I worked as a mechanic for a while before becoming a truck driver for over 30 years, then sawmill maintenance and farmer
The home I grew up in was built in the late 1800’s and added onto in the 20’s, we remodeled it in the mid 70’s, the interior ceiling height was different between the original and add on but I remember in both parts every sheet of paneling and drywall had to be cut.
I presently live in a manufactured home with 2x6 exterior walls and vaulted ceilings, the outer wall height is less than 8’ with center ceiling height around 9’. The 26x30 garage we added has a 9’ ceiling height to allow for 8’ tall roll up doors
I’ve never been or worked for a carpenter and have never purchased a finished wall stud
I numbers I threw out were just random numbers
I have done carpentry work on my own stuff but not your normal house build stuff
I am pretty proud of the log home interior remodel the wife and I added to our present home

 

[NDIHC]

He didn't know what a bushel was.
When's the last time you saw a bushel basket?

Exactly! I'm sure I was taught the ancient bushels, pecks etc. in passing during my school years in the 70s and 80s. I know what a bushel basket looks like. But I could never in a hundred guesses tell you how many bushels fit in a trailer, bin, granary etc. It's just something I've never had to know and never cared to learn because what I do has nothing to do with those measurements.